


Only You

by Somebodys_Nightmare



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: !DomCloud, !SubTifa, BDSM, Cloud is a hot dad, Cloud spoils her, Daddy Kink, Dom/sub, Domestic, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Discipline, Domestic Fluff, Don't Examine This Too Closely, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Gratuitous Smut, Help, Light BDSM, Love, Multiple Orgasms, Orgasm Control, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Porn With Very Little Plot, Porn with Feelings, Praise Kink, Romance, Service Kink, Service Top, Shameless Smut, Smut, Spanking, Submission, Tags May Change, Tags will be updated with the added depravity of my mind, Teasing, Tender BDSM, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Tifa is a freak, Trust, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:41:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 42,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26590831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Somebodys_Nightmare/pseuds/Somebodys_Nightmare
Summary: Tifa wants Cloud badly, all of the time, and lately, her desires have taken on a dark edge.  A snowy night rimmed at the edges with the hazy burn of bourbon motivates her to get what she wants from him, and by the end of the night, their relationship is taking a new turn into uncharted territory.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart & Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Comments: 91
Kudos: 196
Collections: Cloud and Tifa





	1. I Want a New High

**Author's Note:**

> Lmao I don't even know what to say or why I wrote this. I blame #sector69 on the FH discord, you filthy animals.
> 
> Thank you again to [spaceOdementia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceOdementia/pseuds/spaceOdementia) for betaing this and also for dealing with my utter degeneracy.
> 
> Anyway, I'm not sure how often this will be updated but it will be a multi-chapter fic idk how many chapters even but I'll indulge in it while working on my main projects. Can never get enough CloTi smut.
> 
> This chapter takes its title from the [Trevor Something song 'New High'.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kifgdh8JMcE)
> 
> Enjoy

Chapter One

——————

I Want a New High

[ ν ] - εγλ - 2014 | January 21st

Her love for him was endless, and it knew no bounds.

It could not be contained. It was killing her slowly, submerging her with desire and need, and the longer he was away, the deeper her love for him grew and flared with heat inside of her.

Her hand slipped over the warm flesh of her belly, her eyes falling shut, and she was surrounded by him, even though he wasn’t there with her right at that very moment. Tifa was curled up in several thick blankets on the couch, where she had been watching the snow come down beyond the windows outside of Seventh Heaven in a gentle tumble. The bar was closed for the night, her last patrons having left just a little over an hour ago, and the kids were both in bed, asleep and safe now for hours. It was late, and she had built up a nice fire in the hearth in the living room, and the wall-mounted television overhead was quietly playing music videos in the background. But she had closed her eyes to the serenity of the winter scene beyond her window, the soft music draping overhead.

She wanted so badly for Cloud to come home already. Her fingertips toyed with the warm flesh just above the waistband of her skirt, tempted to slip past and relieve the ache she was feeling from his absence. It was one of his longer days, and she missed him so terribly that she was beginning to hurt.

She let her mind conjure an image of him, lean and swathed fully in black as he walked through the front door of the bar, his boots thudding loud against the wooden floorboards. In her mind, Tifa saw herself waiting for him as he approached, hearing his rough, gravelly voice as he commanded her to rise to her feet and stand in front of him. She would obey, her insides aflutter by the hard edge of his words, and when she stood in front of him, he gently demanded that she strip naked for him. She would do as he asked, slowly but purposefully, pulling away each layer of clothing and letting it drop to the floor at her feet, until she was pulling down her underwear and stepping out of them.

Cloud’s dark blue eyes would glow, alight with desire as he stepped toward her, backing her across the room until her back stopped at the edge of the bar’s countertop. She could almost feel the smooth wood digging into her flesh as he hovered over her, his face inches from hers. He’d order her to turn around, and she did so immediately. His hand would slide over the full curve of her rear, a gentle caress that premeditated something wicked, and she would bend over the bar to give him better access. She could hear him chuckle at her eager display, before he tipped his head next to her ear, calmly asking her if she’s been a good girl. And even though she’d respond with _yes_ , she still felt the hard slap of his open hand across her bottom, causing a sharp little cry to escape her throat as she climbed up on her toes. He’d rub his palm across the reddened flesh, soothing away the soreness, only for him to pull his hand back and strike her again in similar fashion. She‘d feel the wetness slip between her legs as she leaned forward against the bar, crying out at the staccato of his spanking, just as she heard his zipper come undone and he is sinking every inch of his hard length into her pulsing depths.

Tifa’s hand had just begun to slip past the waistband of her skirt when the front door opened, bringing with it a gust of cold air that breached the warmth of the hearth that had settled into the dining and living rooms, her fantasy instantly dispelled. She lifted her head, her heart beginning to beat even faster as her eyes met Cloud’s where he stood in the threshold, dressed fully in black, just as she imagined, snow cresting in soft tufts at the tips of his gentle yellow spikes of hair. He offered her a tiny smile before he closed the door behind him, a flurry of snowflakes chasing their way inside in the process.

Tifa sat up, dropping her hand from its dangerous intentions across her lower stomach, watching as Cloud approached. His footsteps echoed across the floor, sending tremors right across her skin, raising the hair on her arms. He immediately stood over her place on the couch, and she held her breath as he leaned over her, pressing his lips to her cheek.

“Hey, baby,” he greeted her softly, and a flare went off between her legs. “Sorry I’m late.”

Unable to contain herself, Tifa threw her arms around his neck, pulling him in close to her as she pressed her lips to his in a needy kiss. He lost his balance for a moment at her sudden embrace, and he tripped over his feet, catching himself by bracing his arm against the back of the couch to avoid crashing completely on top of her. Not that she would have minded.

They kissed for a long moment, Tifa searching his mouth with her tongue, Cloud eagerly searching hers back. She pulled at the soft, downy hair at the nape of his neck, and Cloud moaned against her lips, before pulling himself away to come up for air.

“Wow,” he breathed as he slid back, falling into a seat beside her on the couch. “What’s gotten into you?”

“I missed you,” Tifa whined, leaning forward toward him, terrified of any distance between them. “A lot.”

Cloud’s blue eyes were sparkling against the faint orange glow of the hearth, and the corner of his lips turned up in an affectionate smile at her words. Her heart began to pound and race impossibly faster as his eyes dropped from her face to scan her entire body where it was folded on the couch, the blankets she had been lying beneath now tossed askew.

“I missed you too, Teef,” he responded, and Tifa almost melted into a puddle at his feet when his hand came up to caress her cheek gently, the leather of his glove smooth and soft against her skin.

When he lowered his hand, Tifa felt how bright and warm her cheeks had grown under his admiration, and she looked away from him, wondering if he could hear how her heart was ricocheting inside of her chest. Her desire for him was quickly eclipsing her senses, and she couldn’t avoid the racing thoughts that made her painfully aware of how badly she wanted him, and _what_ she wanted _from_ him. She thought again of her fantasizing about him, and her cheeks grew even redder, warm at the dark nature of her thoughts. She needed something to stabilize her and give her a little courage, and so she rose to her feet and stretched her arms over her head.

“I’ll get us a drink,” she told him, and she was suddenly aware of the quiver that had entered her voice. “Get comfortable, Cloud.”

He nodded at her before turning to face the hearth, and Tifa made her way across the room to the bar, where she stopped to pull out a bottle of bourbon from its racks. As she reached to grab two tumblers, she let her eyes fall across the room to Cloud, watching him as he kicked his boots off and settled across the couch, reaching for the remote and flipping through channels, stopping on a WRO news report. From where she stood, she could make out the smooth profile of his face, the sharp angles of his nose and jaw, the way his soft golden bangs spilled across his forehead. Tifa found herself biting her lower lip as she admired him, and she took in a deep breath before grabbing the glasses and the bourbon.

_He’s so incredibly beautiful_ , she found herself thinking again as she quietly padded across the room and then sank into the couch next to him.

Cloud dropped the remote on the coffee table when she sat down, and he turned to watch her as she set the glasses down and filled each one halfway with the dark, amber liquid. She could feel his eyes burning blue trails against her face, and sparks began to go off somewhere deep in her body, making her feel flush and warm all over again. She noticed that her hand was shaking as she poured, and she tried to steady it, in disbelief with how frenetic she was behaving just sitting next to the man she had been living and sharing her life with for the last few years.

She set the bottle down and lifted a glass to Cloud, offering it to him. She smiled brightly at him when their eyes met, and he accepted it from her. She realized as he reached for it that he had taken his gloves off.

“This is top-shelf stuff,” Tifa told him, a coquettish flourish to her voice.

“Is today a special occasion or something?” he asked her, bringing the glass up to sip.

“I’m just glad that you’re home,” Tifa responded, and she brought her own glass up to her lips, taking a deep drink. As soon as the liquid burned its trail down her throat, she felt the alcohol flicker and burst inside of her bloodstream, sending the heat to flush her cheeks and make her entire body warm as if a fire was kindling inside of her. She turned away from Cloud as she drank, unable to stare at his beautiful face any longer without coming completely apart, only to feel him drop a hand to her thigh in her response to her sentiment, giving it a little squeeze. In answer, she leaned back against him, still facing the hearth.

They drank together in the quiet stillness of the night, the television’s drone above and the crackles of the flames in the fireplace the only sounds that emitted around them for a while. Tifa quickly moved on to her second drink, and by now she was feeling hot enough to strip off all of her clothes where she sat, the haze of alcohol wrapping around her and pulling her apart in threads.

“Slow down,” Cloud warned at her side, and the rough, stern edge in his voice set off an explosion in the back of her brain, generating a warm burst between her legs. She pressed her thighs together, bringing her glass to her lips and taking another long sip as she turned to Cloud.

“And what if I don’t?” she sassed.

Cloud looked at her in pure confusion, his cerulean gaze searching her face for understanding. She held her playful, teasing smirk at him, her own crimson eyes sparkling with the challenge she was trying to goad him into. She wanted nothing more than for him to think she was misbehaving, just so that she could see how he might react, how he might choose to handle it.

“I just don’t want you to get too drunk and get sick, Tifa,” he bit back carefully. “This stuff is ninety proof.”

Cloud could be so dense sometimes, she realized, but she held his gaze with hers, smiling as she drained the rest of her second glass. The burn was instant, and the fog around her thickened and choked, blinding her in its warm fuzziness. She emitted a quiet giggle as he continued to watch her, and she leaned over to grab the bottle again, pouring herself another glass.

“Tifa…” Cloud’s voice had almost become a growl, and Tifa felt the heat that was spreading all throughout her body suddenly amplify and pulse, something thundering inside of her head. She brought the glass to her lips, connecting her red eyes with his blue again as she drank.

“Maybe I don’t want to do what you say, Cloud,” she teased, leaning back against the couch and tossing one leg across his lap.

Cloud continued to stare at her in confusion, but his eyes fell to her leg that was strewn across his lap, wrapped in thick, knit legwarmers that reached her thighs. Tifa watched as the confusion slowly drained from his face, settling into a look that was taking on the hints of lust, and he dropped one hand to her calf, trailing his fingers along its length up to the back of her knee while he took another sip of his own drink with his other hand.

“That wouldn’t be very nice of you, Tifa,” he replied after a stretch of a moment, and Tifa shivered when his fingertips curled and pressed against the inside of her knee, before drawing a line up the underside of her thigh.

“Maybe I don’t want to be nice,” she tossed back at him, pulling her leg back and away from his lap and the languid touch of his fingers, before bringing the glass back to her lips to swallow back another long pull of bourbon. It set her throat on fire, and her head began to swim in a nebulous mist of alcohol, sinking all of her senses. By the time she drained the glass, the rim of mako green around Cloud’s pupils was pulsing, sending sparks in verdant flickers against the blue in his eyes, turning them into turquoise pools. She set her glass down and moved toward him, crawling over and into his lap, straddling him with both legs anchored around him, earning a hitch of his breath as she pressed her body into his.

“Maybe I’m not such a good girl,” she purred against him, her body coming alive with heat with him pressed against her, hot and lean, steady and firm. She took his glass out of his hand and set it on the coffee table next to hers. 

Cloud’s face had slid into a simper at her words, and Tifa felt his hands fall to her waist. His fingertips curled under the hem of her shirt, and a shiver ran through her spine at the feel of his flesh against hers. Something flashed in his gaze at her, and Tifa got the impression that he was finally understanding.

“That’s too bad,” he told her through his teeth, his eyes falling away from hers and dropping to her breasts, which were straining against the cotton fabric of the long sleeve teeshirt she was wearing. His voice was a decibel above a whisper, and it rolled through her like tires over gravel, causing Tifa to bite her bottom lip in response. Cloud lifted one hand and slid it between their bodies, dipping it beneath her skirt, settling between her thighs, finding her damp and hot, pressed against the fabric of her underwear. He let his hand hover there, just barely caressing her warm sex, and Tifa rolled her hips toward him, seeking pressure. His grin widened at her as she moved, and he brought his free hand up to the back of her neck, sliding beneath the thick spill of her long dark hair as he gave her a gentle squeeze.

“Only good girls get to come,” he breathed out in a hushed, sensual tone, and Tifa couldn’t stop the moan from crashing out of her as she leaned forward to capture his lips in a kiss, both of her hands coming up to hold his face.

Cloud indulged her in a long kiss, his fingers skirting across her folds that were still trapped beneath the dark cotton of her panties. She rolled her hips toward him, seeking relief from the press of his fingertips, but he danced around her, never touching her long enough or in the right places to push her closer to the edge. He lifted his hips slightly towards hers, and Tifa felt the stiff ridge of his erection press against her center, searing her right through her clothing.

She pulled her tongue from his mouth, a string of saliva stretching between them as they separated. She licked her lips, staring back into his eyes and finding them completely clouded over with desire, their ultramarine depths having darkened into a misty midnight blue.

“I want to be a good girl,” she whispered, the alcohol spurring her boldness and igniting the heat that was raging in her blood. “Show me how.”

Cloud’s fingers drifted higher up beneath her shirt, until he was pulling it up over her head. Tifa lifted her arms to assist, and Cloud pulled her hair carefully through the neck hole before tossing the shirt to the side on the couch. His eyes drifted to her breasts, milky white and smooth where they were pressed against the dark, spandex fabric of her sports bra. It was a zip-front, and Cloud brought one hand to the zipper, slowly pulling it down as his eyes held hers, until both breasts were spilling free from the confines of the material as he slid it away from her shoulders, her dark pink nipples instantly stiffening under his stare.

“Beautiful,” Cloud professed as he drank her in, leaning back against the couch for a moment to admire the sloping perfection of her upper half.

Tifa arched her back, watching him as he stared back at her, one hand still flirting aimlessly between her legs, seemingly without a care in the world. All of it was leaving her hot and frenzied with desire, and she wanted so badly for him to flip her over and ravish her completely, to rip the rest of her clothes away and grab at her flesh and press his entire length deep inside of her, tearing her insides apart with every thrust.

“I’m yours, Cloud,” she purred. “All yours. Anything you want from me, you can have.”

The smirk on Cloud’s face had faded away, leaving behind a mask of pure seriousness. His eyes remained locked with hers, and Tifa felt herself begin to crumble under the intensity that lived behind them. He leaned forward, pulling his hand away from between her thighs.

“Stand up,” he ordered. 

Tifa obediently climbed off of his lap, rising to her feet in front of him. She could feel the heat of the hearth behind her, warming the back of her body wherever her skin was exposed, the glow of the flames dancing orange and yellow against her skin. Her whole body was trembling with need and anticipation, and she found that she could not tear her eyes from the ferocity he was leveling back at her in his dark blue gaze. She let her arms drop to her sides, and she waited quietly for his next move or command. Cloud leaned further forward, both hands coming to the waistband of her skirt, hooking into it before tugging gently, pulling it down to her feet along with her underwear. Slowly, she stepped out of them, and Cloud kicked them to the side, leaving her standing in front of him in nothing but her leg warmers.

His eyes began a long study of her body, starting at her face, where they lingered for so long that she began to blush. Finally, they dropped into a trail that traversed her throat and her breasts, following the line to her flat stomach and finally resting between her legs, where she felt her skin dampen and grow hotter the longer that he stared at her. Still seated on the couch with her in front of him, Cloud’s hands came back up to her waist, slowly working their way around to the small of her back, his fingers splayed so that they rested at the top of the curves of her bottom. He pulled her closer to him, his lips just barely ghosting over her lower belly.

“Mmm,” Tifa moaned above him, and Cloud pressed a kiss to her stomach.

“Get on your hands and knees,” he told her after a moment, his hands gently turning her body around.

Tifa’s heart was racing again, but she quietly did as he asked, stepping away from him and finding a space on the carpet beside where the coffee table was centered in front of the couch. Slowly, she sank to her knees on the carpet, facing the hearth, the flames inside dancing across her face with their bright heat. She lowered herself to her forearms, arching her back and spreading her legs behind her for him.

“Like this?” she asked him in a tentative, small voice, wanting him to know she was at his mercy.

Cloud hummed his assent in response, and she lowered her head between her hands, hearing him rise from the couch and begin to shift in his clothes as he removed them, zippers pulled down and fabric dropped onto the couch in heaps until he was standing behind her in only his underwear. A long moment later, she felt his hand fall to her hip, stroking her flesh softly as he lowered himself to his knees behind her. 

He was silent for a long moment, and Tifa could only imagine that his eyes were roving her body in its current position. The bourbon was still swimming in her bloodstream, a bold river of ardent desire and need, and Tifa couldn’t ignore her sudden urges or the way they were threatening to spill out.

She lifted her head and turned back to him, her hair sliding over her shoulders in a black ink spill, and instantly her eyes connected with his. The fire that burned in the hearth refracted off of the scarlet in her eyes, sending glittering sparks of red that glowed back at him. She could see the gambol of the flames across his own blue irises, bright reflections of orange and gold that swam upstream against the glittering sea of stars that lived in his eyes.

“If I’ve been a bad girl,” she whispered quietly, “Does that mean you’ll have to punish me?”

Cloud began to smirk again, and Tifa could see that he was amused by her behavior. He drifted one hand between her legs, hovering over her exposed sex, throbbing and wet and waiting for him.

“Maybe,” he replied in a sonorous tone, and he carefully slid one long finger between the folds of her pussy, causing Tifa to arch her back slightly in need. He teased her opening, dipping into the warm, silvery liquid that leaked out of her, and Tifa curled her fingers into the soft tufts of the carpet below her hands. The ache in her clit began to pulse, her entire pussy desperate for him to fill her with his entire hard length. A whine escaped her lips, signaling her desire, and she pressed her hips back against his hand, urging him to continue.

At her insistence, Cloud pulled his hand away from her swollen sex and let it rest at the top of her rear again, his fingers trailing a gentle, calm trail over her inflamed skin. Tifa shivered, biting her lip to contain the dark moan that threatened to spill out from between her lips. His palm began to rub her flesh openly, and Tifa lowered her head between her hands on the carpet.

“Tell me how you think you should be punished,” Cloud said behind her, and every cadence of his voice thundered through her, echoing inside of her chest and sending shockwaves through the viscera in her belly, down to her core. She carefully lifted her head from where she’d laid it on the carpet, her forehead pressed into the downy material. She turned to look at him, catching his bright, glowing blue gaze that was alight with the swirling jade green of mako.

Tifa wanted nothing more than to be under his complete control like this, for the man she considered her personal hero and savior to tower over her, throttling her beneath his unyielding mercy. Cloud rarely tested the boundaries of their relationship; he was always respectful and sometimes a little too careful, and Tifa often had to encourage him to let go and not hold back. But every so often, especially with her incitement, Cloud would fall victim to his own dark impulses, and those were the moments that Tifa lived for, when his hands would treat her roughly, when his teeth would leave marks, when his thrusts would leave her in tears. And right now, she was dragging him back into that space, and she could see it in the way that his beautiful blue eyes glowed back at her.

“Spank me, baby,” she whispered, then turned away, lowering her face again to her hands, closing her eyes and arching her back even more tightly, her legs spreading just a little more.

Her mind was spinning in a daze of booze and lust as she heard Cloud quietly shift behind her. She could sense his hesitation, especially as the seconds ticked by and he considered his next move. She knew that Cloud never wanted to do anything that could ever hurt her, and even when they flirted with the subtle subtext of harshness and acrimony between their touches, he was careful and prudent. But Tifa wanted the worst and roughest of him at that moment, wanted him to pull her apart into ribbons of dripping flesh and blood. Just the thought of his calloused palms striking her flesh made her leak even further, and Tifa stretched so that her back was even further elongated and she was displaying her desire, split open and needful, for him to devour.

“Please,” she begged after a long moment had passed and he still refused to move.

The high-pitched whine in her voice seemed to spur him to action, because she heard Cloud hum before his hands came to grip both sides of her waist. He sat back against the couch, and pulled her body gently into his lap, laying her across him with her belly across his thighs, her rear end in the air.

“You okay, baby?” he asked, and she could feel the vibrations of his chest rock through her entire body. It set her completely aflame, and she let her body settle comfortably against his, reaching one arm out to grip his thigh in her hand as she lowered her face and closed her eyes.

“Yes,” she breathed, barely able to hear her own voice as the air escaped her lungs.

Cloud hummed his agreement, and she felt his hand drop to rub both cheeks of her ass, warming the flesh beneath his palms. Her mind was spinning, anticipation blending into the swirling fire the bourbon had left in her blood. She pinched her eyes closed, just as Cloud brought his palm down in a smack across her flesh in a firm strike that left a sting but was not too hard or painful.

“Mmmm,” Tifa moaned in response, curling her toes and writhing against his lap. She could feel Cloud’s chest constrict as he took in a deep breath at her response.

“… Are you gonna be a good girl, Tifa?” he asked her from above, and his words spilled over her in waves, as if the ocean had suddenly slammed right into her, knocking her over and pulling her into its undertow. Before she could respond, his hand was at her flesh again, and he was alternating hard slaps between both cheeks of her rear, causing her skin to brighten with red marks in the shape of his hand as he carefully and lovingly assailed her.

Tifa let out cries of despair and longing, and the pain, if it could be called that, was so, so good, it set off violent bursts of lightning in her brain that made her entire body come alight. She squeezed his thigh in one hand, the other covering her face as her wails began to translate into harsh, needy moans.

After a long moment, Cloud stopped spanking her and began to rub the tender, sore flesh of her bottom. The soothing sensation made her mewl even harder than his slaps had, and she bent one knee to further spread her pussy open to him, feeling another slow drip of wetness leak out of her. Cloud was whispering sweet praises to her from above, but Tifa’s executive functioning had completely shut down, and nothing she heard him say was landing with any particular coherence. Instead, she just became further unraveled, and she was suddenly begging him to fuck her, her words tumbling past her lips unprovoked and unauthorized.

“Hm, okay, baby,” Cloud murmured above her, and Tifa could tell that he was beginning to relish the role she’d cornered him into, was beginning to embrace it. His hand that had been rubbing tenderly across her sore backside lowered between her legs, his fingertips gently grazing against her outer lips. “I think you’re being a good girl now.” 

Tifa shuddered and stilled her entire body, waiting patiently for his next move, her brain completely clouded and spun by excitement and wanton desire for him. She rolled her hips over his lap, angling her spread core up higher for him to admire, and even through the haze she was climbing through, she knew that he was pleased by what he saw, judging from the low groan he emitted and the way that he shifted beneath her. Tifa could feel his erection against her belly, and she knew instantly that he was likely desperately uncomfortable, even though he was prolonging the matter to cater to her dark wants and desires.

“Please, Cloud,” she found herself begging, his fingers still toying with her slick opening but not moving with any purpose. Her entire body was aflame from the effects of his assertive control, and she squirmed across him, encouraging him to touch her again.

Cloud just hummed in response, and once again, Tifa could feel the vibrations of his vocal cords hit the pit of her belly. She winced, feeling tears of desperation threaten the corner of her eyes, just as Cloud brought his free hand to her face, shoving two fingers into her mouth.

“Don’t worry, Tifa,” he reassured, his voice a low, tremulous baritone. Tifa turned to look at him, hearing the sweet cadence that underpinned his voice, and their eyes met, hers as bright red as cherries and his aquamarine orbs that were swirling with emerald green. “You’re being a good girl, and I’m gonna take care of you.”

She nearly melted, tearing her gaze away from his as she felt his fingers drift lower and away from the split of wet flesh between her thighs to rest at its apex, finding her clit, stiff and pulsing for him. Cloud’s fingers were slick from her own arousal, and gently he began to draw circles over her aching nub, applying a firm pressure that had her ankles rolling instantly.

“Ohh, ohh, Cloud, baby…” she cried, her words mumbled over his fingers that were lodged in her mouth. Cloud didn’t respond, only kept up his circular onslaught, and it was only a few seconds later when Tifa broke completely, the pleasure spiking alongside the adrenaline in her blood, splintering her in half as she came across his fingers, her voice growing shrill.

“Fuck,” Cloud cursed, keeping his fingers pressed to her clit as she rode the zenith, the high carrying her to a temporary, otherworldly plane where everything was too bright and too sensitive. Only the feel of his legs beneath her and his fingers on her body and in her mouth were keeping her grounded as the intensity of her orgasm threatened to send her into space to crash headfirst amongst the stars. 

“Damn, Tifa,” Cloud groaned above her before he pulled his fingers from her mouth and his hand away from the gap in her thighs. Tears had sprung out of the corners of both of her eyes, and Tifa gasped loudly when his fingers left her mouth, inhaling oxygen as if it might be the last time she ever breathed. Gently, Cloud brought his hands to both of her shoulders, carefully pulling her away from his lap so that she came up to kneel in front of him. Tifa sniffled violently when they faced each other, her entire body trembling, and she was terrified that she might spill over or pass out in front of him. Cloud brought a hand up to her throat, caressing it gently, and his touch instantly stabilized her.

“See,” he crooned gently to her. “I knew you were a good girl.”

His words set off a bomb in Tifa’s brain, and she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face into the crook of his shoulder as she began to sob, the pleasure of her release still draining her of all of her senses. His hands came up to her back, rubbing her gently and soothing the hysteria of her orgasm away. She wanted to hold him forever and never let him go; she never wanted him to leave her side again. She was already dreading the next morning when he would get up and go to work again.

“We’re not done yet, sweetheart,” he told her, and gently he was pulling her away from her clutches on him. Tifa’s face was bright red with embarrassment as she realized the delirium with which she was behaving. “Get back on your knees.”

Tifa took in a deep breath, but no matter how hard she tried, her heart would not stop its wild hammering inside of her chest, beating so rapidly she was afraid it might give out and kill her. Carefully, reluctantly, she peeled herself away from Cloud’s lap and resumed her position on her knees in front of the fireplace, pressing her breasts into the carpet as she lowered her head and arched her back.

She heard Cloud moving behind her, shuffling out of his underwear before he came behind her, kneeling between her spread thighs. Her breath hitched when his hands lowered to her hips, his fingers grazing the still inflamed and tender skin of her bottom.

“You’re _my_ good girl, Tifa,” Cloud praised her again, just as she felt him run the tip of his cock across the entire length of her pussy, swirling over her clit before he sank inside of her in one long, fluid movement that caused her to arch her back with a sharp cry.

Cloud gripped her hips with both hands as he began to thrust into her, riding up to the hilt, his entire length dipping into her until the tip of him was prodding against a spot deep inside of her that he always made certain to find. Once he had the right angle, his movements became relentless, and Tifa cried out as the desperate pleasure curled inside of her and began to pull her apart, fresh tears lining her cheeks as she unraveled. Her screams echoed across the bar’s dining room, bouncing against the windows and nearly shattering them with the force of her piercing wails. Cloud suddenly stopped his movements, earning a yearning whimper from her throat, and he leaned forward over her to press a kiss to her shoulder.

“Shh,” he scolded gently, “Before you wake the kids up.”

He leaned back again and continued his assault, his deep penetration causing Tifa to curl her toes and flex the soles of her feet until her calves began to throb with tight pain. A new, deeply threaded orgasm began to wrap itself around her brain, pulling her down under into suffocating electricity, just as Cloud lifted one leg to place his foot against the carpet, angling his stance so that somehow, miraculously, he was able to thrust even deeper inside of her. Tifa’s fingernails curled into the dark fabric of the carpet, pulling at its threads until her hands began to cramp, the beds of her nails growing dark red from the pressure.

The next explosion came swiftly, and it broke her apart into a thousand pieces as she came hard with a cry of his name. She was unable to move or resist, only able to succumb to his inexorable lovemaking. Her body went limp, accepting, and his movements only prolonged her release, dragging it out as her mind went blank with the spin of pleasure that was woven into her blood and every fiber of her being. Her ruby-red eyes drifted lazily across the carpet up to the hearth, where they settled, watching the flames sizzle and pop in front of her as he continued his steady slide inside of her, until her eyes glassed over with fresh tears.

Tifa’s mind was only beginning to clear from her orgasm when Cloud finally met his own release, and he grabbed her waist before driving into her with a final slam of his hips against her backside. She felt him paint her insides with his warm, sticky fluid, and she could only moan as it coated her, telling her without words over and over that she was his, forever and ever. It was the greatest feeling in the world, and she called out his name in desperation, just as he squeezed her hips hard with both hands, then leaned forward to reach for her shoulders, pulling her up so that her back was flush against his chest.

Still inside of her, Cloud wrapped his arms around her body, holding her tight in his embrace as he swiped her hair out of the way and lined kisses along the column of her throat.

“Tifa,” he breathed against her skin, and Tifa almost came undone again, just from the sound of his voice and its reverberating echoes across her body.

“I love you, Cloud,” she proclaimed, unable to stop the spill of emotion from crashing out of her. “That was so good, my love.”

“Hmm,” Cloud hummed in agreement, running his hands over her breasts affectionately as he held her tight to him. Tifa knew that he cherished when she spoke to him with those words, and she could sense his adoration in the way that he clutched her tightly, rocking her body gently against his. “I love you, too, sweetheart.”

She leaned back against him, the fire dancing across both of their bodies in warm, heated colors as they held each other, rippling against the afterglow they bathed in. After a long moment, Cloud sighed behind her, and he fell back away to sit on the floor, finally slipping out of her as he gathered his breath and leaned back against the couch, pulling her along with him.

“Damn,” he expelled with a sigh, and Tifa leaned against him, feeling the line of sweat stick between their bodies. “I’m ready for bed, how about you?”

Tifa nodded, curling her fingers against his chest as she held onto him, her brain still dizzy from the passionate and rough throes of their lovemaking. Everything about their acts that night had left her in a haze of pleasure and desire that was unlike anything she could remember feeling in recent memory. As she curled against his chest, hearing his heartbeat steadily beam up at her with its thunder, she realized that her love and devotion for him had eclipsed into new territory, and she wanted nothing more than to be forever at his mercy this way.

“I am too,” she answered him after a moment, and she trailed the fingernail of her index finger across the smooth plane of his pectorals, causing the muscle to twitch beneath her touch. “But Cloud?”

Cloud hummed again in response, sighing slightly as he rubbed a hand up and down her forearm. “Yeah?”

Tifa swallowed, summoning the last remnants of her courage. The bourbon was still alive in her veins, though its effects had somewhat simmered and tapered off. Nonetheless, she was determined to tell him what she was feeling, and especially, what she wanted.

“I… really liked what we did tonight,” she admitted quietly, still running her finger across his chest. “I… want to do more of it.”

Cloud leaned back a little, tipping his chin forward so that his eyes, which had settled back into a star-pierced royal blue, could connect with hers as they met her face. “You like being spanked?” he asked her softly.

Tifa dropped her eyes and blushed furiously, her face feeling suddenly so hot she was afraid her cheeks might melt and slide away. “Yes, but…” her voice trailed off as she bit her bottom lip between her teeth, and Cloud was encouraging her to continue by running his fingers up and down her arm. “More than that, I like you being in control. I want more of that, and I want it all of the time.”

The confession fell out of her in a swooping swirl, leaving her breathless as soon as she uttered the words. Cloud’s eyes widened slightly, but then realization slowly spread into his features, and he brought up a hand to gently brush her bangs out of her face.

“Yeah?” he ventured, letting out a slow breath. “You sure about that?”

Tifa nodded quickly, far too enthusiastically. “Yes,” She sighed immediately. “I’m positive.”

Cloud nodded, offering her a playful smirk before he leaned in to press a tender kiss to her nose. Then he backed away slightly, dropping his arms from around her.

“Okay. But let’s talk about it more tomorrow, okay? We need to get some sleep.”

Tifa smiled brightly at him, the burgundy in her eyes sparkling under the flicker of the flames that still burned in the hearth. 

“Whatever you say, baby.” she purred in response. “Only you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to be continued and it's just going to get worse tbh
> 
> feel free to join me on twitter @nitezintodreamz


	2. I Am Yours, And You Are Mine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back in horny jail and dying on this hill. Totally using this kinktober thing as an excuse for my behavior.
> 
> The chapter title comes from the song 'Eden' by Scandroid. 
> 
> Thanks to spaceOdementia for beta reading and tolerating my nonsense.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

Chapter Two

——————

I Am Yours, and You Are Mine

It was impossible for Cloud to concentrate. Even though his eyes were glued to the open road in front of him as he drove, it was as if he wasn’t looking at the stretch of highway at all.His mind was elsewhere, thoughts still sticky with the haze of the night before, wrapped in the scent of jasmine that had climbed off of Tifa’s skin, submerged in the desperate yelps that had jumped up at him when he’d taken his palm to her flesh, caught in the wispy mewls that had poured out of her throat when he’d stroked her with his fingers, in her sharp cries when he’d worked her hips from behind.

Then she had crawled into his lap, tired and spent, devoted to him, her arms looped around his neck as she wept and shivered in his embrace.He’d carried her upstairs after that, and after he soothed her reddened skin with cream and combed his fingers through her hair to unravel the tangles, he laid her down and made love to her, his fingers threaded through hers and one of her legs over his shoulder as he drove into her deep with an agonizing slowness that had her stuttering over a peak that took eons to build.When she had risen and fallen beneath him, his seed spilling hot inside of her again, she’d settled against his chest and fallen asleep instantly, sated and completely his, her breath soft and warm across his neck.

Tifa had been in rare form last night.He’d seen it as soon as he walked through the front door, the way her eyes were ablaze as if they had sucked in the flame right from the fireplace that sat in front of her.The look of lust on her face had been blown wide open.When he’d crossed the room to join her, she’d nearly swallowed him whole trying to pull him in for a kiss.

This Tifa was new.He had seen hints of her emerge from time to time, but always with a slight, tentative edge, like toes dipping into water to test the temperature.This Tifa appeared sometimes when they were in the throes of passion, when she might beg him to wrap his hand around her throat or to pull her hair or rail into her harder.When this Tifa appeared, she was bold and demanding, even if it were for a brief, spark of a moment in time.

Last night, that Tifa had taken full possession of her body.She had been there when he walked through the door and she remained until she had passed out in his arms at the end of the night. 

When she’d sassed him as they first sat down to drink, when she talked back to him with a rude, snappish tone that she never used, Cloud had just been surprised, unsure of what to make of her sudden behavior.He’d scratched the back of his neck and raised an eyebrow at her, until she’d slid her long, pretty leg across his lap.Then, slowly, her antics began to make sense. He began to understand.

When she asked him to spank her, Cloud wasn’t sure if he could handle the way his heart, which was already racing just from the display of her bent over and spread for him, began to throttle in an attempt to leave his chest.It was almost painful, frightening him, like he was on the brink of a heart attack. The sound of her voice, a low, soft whimper, had set something off inside of him, like rocket fuel had lit fire to his blood and was burning through his veins.

Cloud could never hurt Tifa.The first time he had been inside of her, under the whirling rotors of an airship and a kaleidoscope of stars, he had been terrified.Every whine of pain that she made as he stretched her open for the first time had scared the shit out of him.He’d stopped a dozen times, despite her urging, as she winced through the discomfort.It had been awkward, and for him, it had been almost heartbreaking, until he had settled in and she had melded around him and accepted him so that he could move freely.

The thought of doing anything to her that might make her whine or wince in pain like that when he was supposed to be loving her was not something that he thought he could live with.

Yet this… had been different.Her eyes had been bright red with passion, urging him to take control, to assert himself in a way that he never really did.They tended to move across a neutral axis in their relationship, treating each other as equals, balancing each other out and gently teetering between one another as they led their way together in passionate exchanges and sensual touches.This time, though, Tifa was asking him to tip the scales completely.

He had never felt anything like the red-hot thrill that coursed through him as his hand brightened her flesh, Tifa writhing in a blend of excitement and pain and vulnerability across his lap, her hair casting midnight over his knees, her arousal leaking against his thighs. With her curvy ass pressed up into the air, begging for him to soothe its skin with his touch, he’d lost his fucking mind, had almost exploded right there with her laying across him.When she’d crawled into his lap and told him she wanted more, more of him in control, all of the time, he’d instantly made a decision.

He’d give Tifa anything she fucking wanted, for the rest of his life.

That morning, he’d awoke to find Tifa stretching under him, her crimson eyes widening up at him as she smiled.She was so pretty, had always been beautiful, but it seemed to him that she just got prettier and prettier the longer that they were together, every day her eyes shining brighter at him with love and her smile wider with adoration.He could stare at her forever.

“Hey,” he’d whispered to her, pale slivers of early dawn’s yellow and lavender sunlight brightening their room and bringing out shimmery highlights in her hair. “How’d you sleep?”

“Perfect,” she’d answered him, her voice almost a kitten’s meow, and Cloud couldn’t get over how cute she was on top of everything else.

“About last night…” he’d whispered, trailing his fingers down her shoulder and the flesh of her upper arm, raising goosebumps against his fingertips. 

“I meant what I said,” she had told him immediately, snuggling her body against his.

Cloud’s eyes had held hers for a long moment, and he studied her face, trying to read her.She was staring up at him hopefully, as if she were pleading for his understanding.When he was silent for too long, she looked down and began to blush.

“I’ve got you,” was all he said in reassurance.And he did.The few words she had used, her actions the night before, had been enough.

He knew what she wanted.

Hence his present distraction.He really didn’t want to deal with the bullshit of work today.All he could think about was Tifa, wanting to be submissive to him, wanting him to be in control.All he could think about was what that meant, to have her completely under his power, to have her relent, and to be at his mercy, no authority at all.How far could they take that? And could he even handle it?

Cloud had to research to find out.After making a set of deliveries in Kalm mid-morning, he stopped at a coffee shop to recharge and to initiate a search on the internet on his PHS.Sitting at a bar-style counter by the window, Cloud realized he was blushing as he began to read through articles about introducing submissive and dominant dynamics into an established relationship, and about the accompanying activities and… resources that could go along with it.After he finished the second article, he let his PHS drop on the counter with a clatter as he stared down into his coffee, half grinning with excitement and half trembling with embarrassment.

Okay.He could do this.Tifa wanted it.He wanted it, the more he thought about it.

He read a few more articles, and a couple of them, he sent to Tifa.

 **Cloud:** Hey, Teef. Read these before I get home.

 **Tifa:** Okay.I miss you.

 **Cloud:** I miss you too.

When Cloud left the coffee shop sometime later, his pants were stiff when he climbed back onto Fenrir, causing him to pull and adjust himself several times until he managed to sit only somewhat comfortably on the bike’s seat.

Okay.A few more deliveries to get through in Junon, and then he was going to go shopping.He was sure he could find what he wanted in Downtown Junon.

And then he was going straight home.

* * *

When Cloud arrived home later that evening, he was surprised to see that Seventh Heaven still had a full house, considering that it was a weeknight and the weather outside was terrible.The wind was still stiff with chill from the recent snowfalls, and everything had begun to freeze over as the hours grew late, the roads now slick and icy.His fingers filled with frost, Cloud was grateful for the full blast of warmth he felt when he walked inside of Seventh Heaven; Tifa had built up the fire in the hearth to a full, radiant burn.

His eyes scanned the dining room as he closed the door behind him, making note of the tables with handfuls of patrons around them and the group that filled the seats at the bar.In one of the booths in a corner nearest to the bar, he could see both of his kids sitting across from one another, the pair with their heads down as they worked diligently in their school books.

Cloud glanced at his PHS.He’d made a number of rearrangements to his schedule that afternoon so that he could get home early, and it wasn’t quite yet seven.The bar didn’t usually shut down until about nine during the week.

Marlene was the first to look up and notice him arrive, and her brown eyes brightened as she smiled and waved at him, shouting his name over the din of the bar’s activity.At her excitement, Denzel turned around to face him and offer a smile, and Cloud crossed the room to them, ignoring how some of Tifa’s patrons let their eyes linger, falling on the sword that was strapped to his back.

“Cloud!” Marlene was at her feet, and when he approached, her arms were around his waist.“Are you gonna have dinner with us tonight?”

“I am,” Cloud assented, winking at her and then leaning over to ruffle Denzel’s hair gently.You kids working on your homework?”

“Almost done, Cloud,” Denzel said, turning his workbook to face him.Cloud inspected it for a moment before giving the two kids a nod, just as Tifa, who had been at the bar, came up beside him.

“Hi there,” she greeted, her voice sweet, and Cloud turned to her to find her looking up at him with a smile.She was dressed in a snug pair of dark jeans and a long navy blue sweater that hugged her entire shape, her apron tied around her waist.Her hair was loose and full around her shoulders. Faint lines of ink were swept around her eyelids, widening them so they were doe-eyed, brightening the scarlet in her eyes, and her lips were shining with a pale, pink gloss.

She looked so pretty for an ordinary Wednesday night, but Tifa always looked pretty, he knew, even when the world was seconds away from collapsing.

“Tifa…”

“You’re home early,” she observed, and her tone was bright, as if his early arrival was the happiest thing that could have happened.“Dinner is almost ready, so your timing is perfect.What’s in the bag?”

Cloud looked down at the black gift bag he was carrying low in one hand, almost out of sight, the evidence of his time spent shopping in Downtown Junon.He felt his neck flare.

“Uh, we’ll talk about it later,” he told her.Her eyebrow went up in curiosity, but Cloud was already turning away, back to the kids.“Finish up your homework so we can eat, and I’ll tell you all about the monsters I fought today near the Junon River.”

The kids broke out into excited giggles and cheers, and Cloud leaned forward to press a kiss to Tifa’s temple before he disappeared upstairs, where he tucked the little black gift bag away into a corner in their bedroom.

When he came back downstairs, he spent the rest of the night with his family and helping Tifa around the bar. He ate dinner with Marlene and Denzel first, telling them a few stories and then checking their homework while Tifa continued to serve her remaining customers.Around eight-thirty,Marlene yawned, and Cloud checked his PHS and rose from their booth, waving at both children and ushering them upstairs.Once they had both brushed their teeth and settled in bed for the night, Cloud nodded at them before he left them alone.

“Lights out by nine-thirty,” he told them, mostly to Marlene, who was notorious for trying to stay up past her bedtime.“I’ll be back up here to check in a little while.”

“Okay, Cloud,” Marlene replied too playfully, and Cloud knew that he really would have to stop in later and check to make sure they were both asleep.

He went back downstairs and set to helping Tifa clean up and get the place ready for closing, even though she protested the entire time, insisting that he sit at the bar and have a drink while she finished up.He wasn’t about to do that, knowing that Tifa closed the bar every night by herself when he was away on long delivery runs, knowing that she refused to hire any additional help, knowing that she often came to their bed late at night with her muscles tight and tense with overuse and fatigue, her hands dry and blistered from too much time spent under hot water and dish soap.Instead, he propped chairs on top of tables after customers vacated them and Tifa had wiped them down, and ran the broom across the floor, gathering up the dirt and dust the crowd had traipsed in.He helped her bring dirty dishes into the kitchen, and while she cleaned up the front dining room and wiped down the bar, he loaded the dishwasher and made sure that all of the surfaces in the kitchen were clean.

It was a bit after nine when Cloud went back into the dining room, finding Seventh Heaven empty and Tifa wiping her hands on a towel from where she stood behind the bar.She was facing at an angle away from him, and she was oblivious to his presence, focused on her hands as she ran the towel between each finger, scrubbing away the night’s labor.She dropped the rag to the counter, then tossed her head back and yawned, displaying her pink tongue to him even from where he stood in the doorway.

He watched her the entire time, absorbing her image as she closed her mouth and then dropped her hands to her waist to untie her apron, pulling it away and dropping it on the counter.As soon as she did, the full, round, curves of her hips were revealed, and Cloud couldn’t resist the sudden gravitational pull that had him moving in her direction, coming up quietly behind her to rest his hands at her waist.

“Teef.”

She turned to him, lips turning up into a smile again. He could see the film of sleepiness glaze over her pupils, and part of him wanted to carry her up the stairs and tuck her into bed with a kiss pressed to her forehead.

“Thanks for helping me tonight.You really didn’t have to do that.”

Her eyes were glittering under the bar’s dim lighting overhead, a deep, raspberry red that engulfed his chest with warmth.He felt the corner of his lip turn up slightly, and he bent forward, dropping a finger to the side of her face and tracing the slope of her jaw. 

“I’m always here for you, Tifa.You work too hard.”

Tifa scoffed, blushing a little as she leaned into his hand, and the warmth inside of him burst into flames.

“You ready to go upstairs, baby?” Cloud leaned in closer to her, dipping his face beside her ear, brushing his lips over her hair by her throat.He caught the glint of her earring under the lights, a silver teardrop, and he pressed a kiss to the gemstone that sat at its apex against her lobe.“I want to talk to you.”

Tifa leaned into him, nodding her head and humming in response. The fresh scent of vanilla that lingered in her shampoo flooded him, and he lowered his hand from her face to find hers by her side, before he led her to the stairs.

They were both silent as they made their way up.Cloud stopped at the kids’ room, finding them both asleep, tucked in the covers.When he peered through the doorway, Tifa stood behind him, leaning against him with her arms pressed to his back, her palms flat on his shoulder blades.Her touch, intimate and firm, seared heat into his muscles that were sore from riding his bike all day.He closed the kids’ door and turned around, her hands slipping away as he reached for her wrist and pulled her along.

Tifa padded quietly behind him until they reached their bedroom.He stepped out of the way to let her in first, sliding out of his boots by the door and then closing it behind him.

Their room was dim, shadowed by the winter night outside, a sliver of moonlight casting a pale, periwinkle glow over the bed from the window above.It was chilly in the room, though, and Cloud crossed the room to turn on a kerosene-powered heater that they kept in one corner.

When he turned back around, Tifa was waiting for him, her hands clasped behind her.Her chin was lowered, tipping her head downward, but she was peering coyly up at him under her dark lashes, a flash of ruby that sent a spindle of electricity through his nerves.Under the moonlight, her skin seemed even paler and smoother, like lavender-tinted porcelain.He wanted her naked immediately.

That thought fueling him, Cloud stepped forward until he was less than inches away from her.His fingers dropped to the hem of her sweater, and he tugged at it slightly.

“Take all of this off,” he told her softly. “Just leave on your underwear.Then bring me that black bag in the corner.” 

He watched as Tifa’s eyes drifted to the corner, spotting the black gift bag that he’d brought home.Her cheeks flared pink under the moon’s glow, and she nodded slowly at him, stepping away from him and dropping her hands to pull her sweater over her head.

Shiva, she was gorgeous.Cute and sexy and gorgeous and his. 

And he was about to make her his in even more ways than she’d ever been before.

He backed up and sat on the bed, unzipping his own sweater and tossing it away to the side while he watched Tifa disrobe.He leaned back, his eyes glued to her, as she dropped her sweater into the hamper, then unzipped her jeans and slowly peeled them away from her long legs, dipping down so that her curvy rear was in the air.He cocked head to one side to admire the full slope of her ass, pressed against black lace fabric, his eyes drinking in the winding hills of her body as she turned and bent over to retrieve the black bag in the corner before walking it over to him and holding it out to him with one hand.

His line of sight had settled on her flat tummy when she approached, drifting up to her breasts that were still upheld by black lace. He stopped when their eyes met.

“Take your bra off.”

She moved wordlessly, reaching her arms behind her back to undo the clasp.As soon as it was released, she slid the fabric over her arms until both breasts hung heavy and free in front of her, and she dropped the material to the floor.

“Come sit in my lap,” he instructed. His voice sounded firm in his ears, but he was also sure that it was shaking, and he could hear the blood rushing through his skull.

Tifa went to him, bringing with her the blended scents of vanilla and jasmine as she climbed over him, straddling his lap with ease where he sat on the edge of the bed, his knees spread.Her entire body was radiating heat, her skin warm as her arms came around his neck.Cloud folded his arms around her waist, splaying one hand across the top of her rear while the other pressed against the center of her back, folding her in closer to him.

“Hmm, you smell good,” he breathed against her clavicle, running his nose up and down her neck with tiny nudges.She giggled a little in his arms, and he felt her fingers come up to the nape of his neck, curling into his hair there, ruffling through it and tickling the base of his scalp.

“So do you,” she replied softly, and even though her voice was husky, there was something sweet laced in her tempo, a soft, gentleness that could only come from her, uniquely Tifa and saved only for him, making his heartbeat clamor. “You’re wearing my favorite aftershave.”

Minerva, he loved her.

His palms both fell to her waist, gripping tightly at the dip in her shape, absorbing her warmth.He pulled back from her slightly so that their eyes could meet, hers darkened over over like two perfectly aged glasses of merlot.

“Did you read the articles I sent you?” he asked her, his voice quiet and low.

“I did.”

“What do you think?”

He waited as Tifa fell silent for a moment, her eyes dropping down to his chest, lustfully drinking in his torso.He felt the stiffness in his lap flare and rise when she trapped her bottom lip between her teeth, realizing that she was studying his body with the same kind of wild longing he stared at hers with.

“I want to try it,” she finally said.

Cloud released a slow breath, hearing his heartbeat begin to echo and stomp again.Okay.He could do this.He’d planned for this.If he was going to be the one to take control, then he had to start now, and walk her through this first conversation, so they could figure out how this was going to work.

Still, it didn’t stop his cheeks from darkening.

“Okay, Teef,” he cradled her closer to him on his lap, her breasts soft and full against his chest, her core warm in his lap. He dipped his chin so that their foreheads were nearly touching, and their eyes met again.“I want you to know that I’ll give you anything you want, as long as I know it won’t hurt you.And anything that we do, I’m gonna make sure that you’re safe, okay?”

“I know,” she responded without hesitation, and the trust in her voice, in her eyes, built the fire in his belly even higher.

“You can tell me anything, Tifa,” he added.“Anything.” He lifted one hand from her waist and brushed his fingers over her cheek.

“I want you,” was her response, and she was pulling at his hair again. 

Cloud expelled a slow, steady breath, nodding slightly, his forehead still tipped against hers.Hearing those words, knowing exactly what she meant, made his insides crumble. 

“Then we need to talk about a few things first, okay?” he said softly to her, and he felt her nod against him.With their heads pressed together in the darkness, he could just barely make out the crimson glint of her eyes under the pale white filter of the moon.

Cloud had to take a deep breath before he continued.Never before had he felt so trapped between torrenting emotions, a combination of thrill and desire surging against absolute terror and doubt.What Tifa was willing to relinquish to him had rendered him into a state of perpetual arousal for the entire day, in fact, he hadn’t been able to settle himself completely since the moments they’d shared together the night before.Nonetheless, he couldn’t help the sinking feeling that he could never be worthy of something like this, especially after reading the intricacy of those articles on the internet. Somehow, part of him alleged, he would manage to fuck this entire thing up. 

Nonetheless, Cloud pushed down those deeper insecurities, edged out by his amplified longing for Tifa and his desire to placate her needs.

“First,” he kissed her cheek, “We need a safe word.It should be something you know you’re not gonna say when we’re in bed together.”

Tifa let out an airy chuckle against his jaw. “Fenrir.”

Cloud laughed alongside her, kissing her again, finding her adorable.“Okay.Did you read about the collars?”

Tifa nodded, and she brought her hand up to her lips, slightly sheltering her face from him, even though it was only inches away from his own.He brushed his nose against hers, pushing her hand away. He could see her the tops of her cheeks had started to take on a faint red tint with embarrassment again, and he realized she was being far, far more demure than she had been last night.It was the cutest, sexiest thing he had ever seen, especially considering the nature of their conversation and the turn their relationship was taking.

“You don’t have to be shy with me, Tifa,” he told her reassuringly.

She lifted her eyes to his, the pop of cherry in her irises leveling out to a hazy, sanguine hue.She nodded slowly.“I’ll wear it.Can I choose when to put it on? When we want to…”

“When we want to play?” he finished for her, trying to encourage her with his words, to let her know that this was all about making her feel good, about giving her what she wanted.This was about him showing her another side of his love for her, in a way that they were both comfortable with, but that tested their boundaries and pushed their relationship into new territory with new limits.“Of course, Tifa.”

Tifa breathed a little sigh, as if relieved, and she settled more comfortably in his lap, as if surrendering. Cloud felt the warmth between her legs pulse against his lower abdomen as she leaned in even closer to him, her fingers now combing through the hair at the base of his skull, as if the repetitious motions were soothing her own nerves. His heart hammering in his chest, Cloud nodded at her and then leaned back to fetch the black gift bag where he’d dropped it on the bed.

Inside of the bag were several items that Cloud had purchased in Junon, all trinkets and toys that he had read about during his research that morning.He’d found them at a tiny, nondescript novelty boutique that catered to eccentric interests, everything from vintage fashion, indie music, body jewelry, collectible figurines, room decor, and, of course, adult toys.Cloud had kept his head down then entire time as he paid for the items, furious with himself at the way he was flushed.After purchasing his items, he had nearly run out of the store.

But before that, he had made a stop at a jewelry store downtown, spending far too much money while he was there, wanting something special and unique for Tifa that would solidify what was about to happen between them.

He reached into the bag and pulled out a small, black velvet jewelry box.His heart was beginning its dull thunder again, a drum in his chest that was making his ribs throttle.As soon as she saw the box in his hand, Tifa’s knees dug into his thighs, and he felt her warmth press even closer to the flat of his abs.

“This is for you,” he told her softly, and he lifted his blue eyes to watch her face, waiting for her to accept it.Her tongue darted out of her mouth to lick her lips as her eyes lifted again to meet his, dark scarlet red, bubbled over like sparkling wine.“Open it.”

She smiled at him, her eyes lighting up, setting his heart from a thumping drumbeat into an airy flutter.She accepted the box, and slowly, opened it.

Cloud watched her eyes widen as they settled on the gift laying on the satin inside the box, a fine, belcher-link silver chain with a sparkling pendant dangling from the center of the rope.He watched as Tifa brought her fingertips, manicured nails painted a deep maroon, to lift the pendant.It was a silver crescent moon, lined with stars that were faceted with diamond and sapphire gemstones, a howling wolf looped through the center of the moon.She draped it across her fingers, admiring every detail, and Cloud caught the glint of the gems in her irises.

“Cloud, this is beautiful,” she finally breathed after a moment.

Unable to resist himself, Cloud brought his fingers to her temple, brushing her fringe to the side, admiring her beautiful face as he tucked a thick, dark strand of silk behind her ear.“Turn it over, Teef.”

She did, and he saw her eyes narrow and her brows furl as she studied the back of the pendant.When she caught it, the tension in her face softened and she looked back up at him, her eyes glassy and making him want to kiss her eyelids.

“C+T,” she read the inscription, her voice cracking with joy, and Cloud couldn’t stop the grin that broke out across his face, even though the stiffness in his pants was beginning to blind him with pain.

“Even if you want me to be in control,” he sang to her slowly, trailing his fingers from her temple to her jaw in a long, slow line, “We’ll always belong to each other, Teef.”

The sound she made was the cross between an elated gasp and a husky moan, and it flooded him with new warmth, like tides had just crashed into him.Her arms were back around his neck, pulling him into her.

“It’s beautiful, Cloud,” she repeated.“I love it.”

“Tifa, I didn’t want to buy you one of those collars,” he told her as she leaned back.The truth was, he couldn’t bring himself to do it, even as sexy as he knew she would look in any of them.They seemed too crude for Tifa, too brusque and abrupt for a woman as sweet and alluring as she was.Even though Tifa was strong and determined, her body and her will both made of steel, Cloud knew better than anyone on earth that deep inside, she was sensitive and tender, that her heart was delicate and needed to be protected.No matter what, he would protect her, even when it came down to trivial details like this.“You’re too pretty for them.Will you wear this instead?”

Cloud almost lost his wits when he saw her eyes mist over, and she slowly nodded.She opened her mouth as if to speak, to assent verbally, but her voice seemed caught, and nothing escaped her lips aside from tiny, hot puffs of air as she breathed shakily.Instead, she reached one hand behind her head and moved her hair out of the way in an open gesture to him.

Cloud nodded, feeling his heart rate stack again.Carefully, he peeled the chain away from the box and lifted it to her throat, reaching beneath her hair as she held it up to secure the clasp.The chain was short enough that once fastened, the pendant dangled right above the gap between her clavicles, and it caught the sparkles and gleams from the moonlight overhead.

Seeing her in that necklace, desire was beginning to cloud his senses, muddling his thinking with electrified heat.He slid his hands away from her throat, and brought them up to the sides of her face.

“When you’re wearing that, you’re my baby girl, okay?” Cloud knew how much she loved for him to call her baby, and last night, whenever he praised her by calling her his good girl, she had only grown wetter and hotter at the mercy of his touch.Even now, he could see the flash of lust break out across her face at the suggestion.

Her eyes were locked with his, sending sky beams of affection into his soul like a too-bright daybreak.“Okay,” she conceded.“And what should I call you?”

Cloud thought about it for a moment; he had been thinking about it all day.He really didn’t like any of the suggested names or terms he had read about.None of them seemed to fit him and Tifa at all, none of them seemed like anything he wanted coming out of her mouth.

But there was something he loved to hear her call him, and he didn’t hear it drop from her lips nearly enough.

“Just call me your Love,” he told her, one hand falling from her cheek to lift her hand so that her fingers were in front of his face.Her eyes rose again to his, and the swirls of red in them were almost as bright and pink as strawberries.

“Okay,” she answered.

A bomb went off in the back of Cloud’s mind as he realized the first opportunity for him to assert his dominance over her presented itself, and the excitement that had been steadily building in him now threatened to rage, transforming him into another version of himself. He released her hand, his fingers dropping to the chain at her neck, brushing against it slightly, disrupting it. His hand that was still at her cheek slid to the side of her throat, pressing into her flesh. “Okay, what?”

He felt her swallow under his touch.“Okay, my Love.”

Fuck.That did something to him, sent something wicked coursing through his veins, kicking his nerves up into a frenzy.He tried to breathe, not wanting to falter and fall victim to the way her sweetness was threatening to undo him.Instead, he summoned his concentration, steeling himself, pushing down the true nature of his yearning for her and gathering back the control he needed to be in possession of.

He gently pushed her away from his lap, causing Tifa to stumble back slightly to her feet on the floor.

“Get on the bed,” he told her in a thick order, “And take out everything else that’s in the bag.”

Tifa nodded, biting her bottom lip again, sending blades of sharp fire straight to his cock.She turned and moved toward the bed, preparing to crawl over it, and awash with thrill, Cloud pulled back his palm and smacked it against her bottom, causing her to yelp in surprise as she nearly fell over across the mattress.He took her wrist in his hand and yanked her until she was facing him.

“When I give you a command, you say, ‘Yes, my Love,’ so I know you heard me,” his voice had fallen into a low, rumbly growl, and even he was surprised by it.

He watched as Tifa’s eyes widened and then darkened, reminding him of the way she had turned and looked back at him last night.“Y-yes, my Love.I’m sorry.”

“Good girl,” he responded, and immediately, Tifa continued crawling across the bed until she came to sit in the center of it.Cloud slid across the comforter until his back rested at the headboard, and he spread his knees in front of him, pulling them back slightly so that Tifa was sprawled between them with the black gift bag in her hand.

Slowly, obediently, she began to withdraw each item from the bag one at a time, laying them on the bed between them.She pulled out a series of long, black satin strips of material, which she laid carefully side by side on the bed, five of them in total.

Cloud sat up and reached for the satin.“Up on your knees,” he told her, and Tifa obeyed, shifting slightly on the mattress.Cloud couldn’t stop his eyes from traveling up and down her torso when she was in that position, the moonlight haloed behind her, her breasts heavy and pendulous, her tummy a flat slope that led to the line of her black panties, low on her hips.Her hair was a black spill around her shoulders and arms, clinging to her skin like tar. He caught the glint of the gems in the howling moon pendant at her throat under the celestial light that edged its way into the room.

It was taking everything in his power to not flip her into the center of the bed, pull her panties down, and plunge himself inside of her so he could grind into her and make her scream for the next hour while they worked away the nervous, tight edge of energy that had been building between them all night together.He was beginning to realize that even though he was the one with the power here, he was struggling to maintain control of his own damn self. 

And the night had only just begun.

He shook the fog from his brain, ignoring the sear between his legs as he leaned forward to pick up one of the strips of satin.He cleared himself away from the headboard, making room for Tifa to lay down.

“You want to be a good girl for me tonight?”

Tifa licked her lips, her eyes so dark they were nearly black when she looked up to meet his again.“Yes, my Love.”

Cloud smirked, wanting to bite into his fist every time she uttered those words, to dig his teeth right into the flesh of his knuckles until they bled.

.He gestured to the open space in the center of the bed.“Good.Lay down with your hands above your head.”

“Yes, my Love,” Tifa obeyed, crawling down from her kneeling position and shifting until she lay on her back in the center of the bed.She looked up at the ceiling, and carefully lifted her arms above her head, bending her elbows slightly as her wrists met.

“Good girl, “ Cloud praised, admiring the way her torso stretched when she laid down, the way her breasts wobbled and spilled full across her chest, the way her legs poured out in long, fluid lines below her.He drank her in a long moment, and her eyes remained on the ceiling as she waited.

Cloud inhaled deeply, leaning over to take a strip of satin into his hand.Carefully, he brought it up to her face, tying it around her eyes in a blindfold behind her hair.

“Close your eyes and relax, baby girl,” he whispered, running a hand between her breasts and caressing the smooth scar that was carved there, causing her back to arch slightly before falling back into the mattress.Cloud reached for another strip of satin and used it to bind her wrists together over her head.He pushed the other satin strips to the side and positioned himself between her legs.

He could see faint shivers of anticipation ripple across her skin as she waited, blindfolded and in the dark to what he was about to do to her.He saw her wrists flex and stir against her restraints, saw her back twist again, tossing her breasts back and forth, her nipples hard and dark pink, begging to be touched and kissed. Her entire body was flushed now, and Cloud let his eyes drop between her legs, noticing that the center of her panties had already darkened and grown damp.The entire sight of her set something violent and medieval off in his brain.

He dropped a hand to the inside of her thigh, causing her to draw a sharp intake of breath as he gently rubbed her flesh there.He stopped after a moment, and squeezed his palm around her at the highest point of the inside of her thigh that he could reach.

“I want you to lay there and not make a sound, baby,” Cloud instructed her softly.“Not one single word.If you make any noise, I’m going to punish you.”

Tifa was biting her lips again, trembling harder now. Her knees were no longer stationary.She nodded her head listlessly, and Cloud realized she was unsure if she could verbalize her understanding.

“Speak.”

“Yes, Love,” she affirmed with a breathy sigh, and Cloud could feel himself leaking all over the inside of his underwear.

“Good girl, baby,” he told her, squeezing her thigh again.Now, time to be quiet.”

The stiffness between his legs sparking his brain with pain, Cloud pushed the sensation to the farthest corner of his mind as he settled himself between Tifa’s knees, leaning over her with his arms caging her body beneath his as he brought his lips to her jaw.

He felt her entire body tense, seizing up as his unexpected kisses fell on her flesh, and it sent a new wave of viral excitement into his veins.His kisses trailed her flesh down to the column of her throat, where he dug his tongue against her pulse point before nipping the same spot with his teeth and then quickly running his tongue across it in a hot stripe to soothe the pain.He felt her jugular buckle as she trembled and swallowed back a cry somewhere deep in her throat, and the wantonness of the sound sent his hand wandering her body and his brain fizzing with dizzyness.

While Cloud continued to kiss and suck gently at her neck, his left hand traced her collarbone toward her breast, calloused palm rolling over the peak that was already stiff.His glowing blue eyes fell to stare at it, mesmerized by how her skin had flushed and her nipples were a deep shade of dusty rose.They were too beautiful, made for him and him alone to admire, and he found himself attacking the flesh of her neck again, pulling at it slightly with his teeth, just as he pinched her nipple between two fingers. She inhaled sharply, but otherwise, she remained silent, her knees spreading just a little more and rocking gently in place.

Feeling further feral by the second, Cloud pressed kisses into the crook of Tifa’s neck and brought his hand away from her breast to her lips, prodding her mouth gently until she understood and opened it, letting him dip two fingers against her tongue so that she could wet them with her saliva.The sight of his fingers against her tongue, invading her full, pouty red lips, lit a fuse inside of him that was threatening to set off an explosion, and he groaned as he pulled his fingers away, trailing a string of saliva along with them.

He dropped those two fingers to her opposite breast, this time circling the nipple gently with his wet tips.He felt Tifa’s body stiffen as he rotated a pattern against it, her body locking up from the pleasure he was pouring into that tiny pebble of nerves.He sealed three fingers together and dragged their length indolently over the pink tip of her breast, then lowered his mouth to blow a cool stream of air against her flesh.He looked up as he did so, and caught Tifa’s lips parting, her mouth dropping open as if she were struggling for air, drowning in an invisible body of water.

She was doing surprisingly well, had not made a single sound yet.It was stirring something savage and needy in him, and Cloud rubbed the back of his neck before he brought his lips to the center of her breast, kissing her scar gently, reminding himself over and over again how she deserved to be worshipped. He lifted his right arm as he pressed his lips softly against her marred flesh, letting his fingers curl possessively around her throat, still sticky and damp from the marks of his tongue.Running his thumb against the base of her jugular and pressing down gently, Cloud slid over and took one nipple into his mouth, running his tongue over it in quick, tender flicks that brandished her with wet heat.Her back arched, pushing her entire torso into the air and disrupting him where he was pinned against her body.Grinning, Cloud began to suck her nipple between his lips, taking his time, working his mouth over her flesh for minutes that stretched by tortuously before he released her with a pop against his tongue and then moved to the opposite breast to lave it with the same lassitude.Her chest was constricting and heaving as she tried to breathe soundlessly, her back curving into an impossible arch, knees wavering.Her hips began to wind, and Cloud could feel the desperation begin roll off of her in waves.

And all the while, she remained silent.It made Cloud smirk smugly to himself, knowing that she was not going to last.He hadn’t even gotten to the best part yet.

This power was beginning to lodge itself into his brain, he thought, becoming something permanent and illustrious.

Beneath him, he watched her chest rise and fall with deep breaths, watched her wrists flex against one another in their bindings, watched her head toss back and forth, sending her hair to slide across the sheets like shimmering slats of onyx. Her mouth was open again, silently begging.Unable to contain himself, Cloud pulled away from her breasts and rose up above her again, bringing his face close to hers and pressing his mouth against hers in a hungry kiss.

Tifa responded eagerly, curling her tongue against his, kissing him deeply as their mouths explored one another’s.Cloud pulled away from her, leaving her to lift her head away from the pillow as she blindly followed and searched for his mouth again.Feeling satisfied with her open display of neediness, he dipped back down to placate her with another suck of her tongue and a nip of her bottom lip before he pulled away fully and repositioned himself between her knees.

From where he knelt, Cloud took a moment to drink Tifa in before he proceeded, making note of the way that her hands still fidgeted above her head in their satin restraints, the way her mouth opened and closed slightly as she gasped for air, the way his bite marks were beginning to bloom purple on her throat, the way his saliva was still shining in the moonlight on her nipples.It was intoxicating to drink in, like the euphoric hit of a powerful drug crashing into his neurotransmitters and sending white-hot spikes of dopamine through his brain.The way her torso dipped at her waist and then fanned out into her full, creamy hips made his throat tighten and swell, restricting his breathing.

There were so many things that Cloud loved and admired about Tifa Lockhart, but he’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t completely maddened by the curvy shape of her body.That first time he’d seen her again from afar in Nibelheim, when her body was almost fully developed, her midriff bared and her breasts full against her cowgirl’s vest, he had almost been unable to hold himself together until he made it back to the inn and pulled on his dick for an entire hour in the bathroom, thinking of her and the magnificence of her form, until Zack had returned to the room and started banging on the door.

He never stopped thinking about her body after that day, and even now he was awestruck by it as she lay completely surrendered and almost fully bare in front of him.He wondered how the fuck he had gone from being such a loser just a decade ago to being in a committed relationship with a woman who not only looked like this, but who loved unconditionally and made the rest of the world go around with her virtues.

His brain was nearly producing smoke from his thoughts, and it was becoming further difficult to hold himself back.He brought the fingers of both hands immediately to the hem of her panties and began to pull them away, lowering them over the swells of her hips and thighs and down past her smooth calves and narrow ankles.Before he tossed them to the side, he chanced a look at the fabric and saw the thick streak of dampness that had soaked through their center.

As soon as he pulled them away, Tifa widened her legs further, eager for him. He dropped the panties without another thought and let his eyes fall squarely between her highs, right where she was spreading her pussy for him.His heart began to pound at the sight of it, the way her clit peaked out at him, stiff and swollen, the way her inner lips were slick and pink, the way a shimmery stream of her arousal was trailing a line down to her inner the thigh in a gently beckoning river.He bit his bottom lip and admired her, unable to pull his stare away.

He loved every part of her, but staring at this most intimate part of her body gave him the ultimate thrill.The first time he’d laid eyes on her like this, he was questioning the gods, wondering what kind of fucked up decisions they were making, wondering if they weren’t playing a joke on him, wondering if someone hadn’t cast a Mystify spell on him.It didn’t seem real, that anything could possibly be this beautiful.He’d seen her bared to him like this dozens and dozens of times since, but at first, he’d almost been too shy to really take her in, to revere her like the goddess she was.But lately, especially in the stretch of time since he’d been cured of Geostigma, the reticent barriers between them were beginning to crumble.Cloud could stare at her pussy all day long and not give a fuck who knew about it.

Tifa started to shift on the bed, and he could tell that she was growing impatient.She was being so good, too good, even, and it was sending lava through the inside of his chest, burning him alive. 

Seeing her squirm, Cloud was to determined to break her.

He dropped one index finger to her core, running the tip of it with a feather’s touch against her wet slit.He felt her body grow tense again, the plane of her abdomen pulling taut as the muscles underneath wound up and strained.Smirking again at the power he had over her, he slid his finger between her slippery folds, and she was so wet that his skin was instantly soaked, even though he hadn’t pressed inside of her yet.She was leaking all over him, and as he gently continued to stroke her lips, he watched her chest contract as she began to breathe rapidly.

After a moment of rubbing her affectionately, he lifted his finger all the way to the apex of her seam, letting it stop at her at clit, where he brushed over the hard nub before pressing down on it.

“Mmmm!”Tifa let out a strangled sound that was clearly a cross between a whimper and a cry, and her knees buckled and slammed, her hips rising from the bed before crashing down again.Finally, she had broken the rules, and Cloud was practically grinning with triumph as he pulled his finger away from her clit.

“Tifa,” he warned, low in his throat, hoping that he sounded as threatening and severe as he was trying to manage.“You need to be quiet.”

Slowly, Tifa nodded her head, and he could see the line of sweat that had broken out across her forehead, her body crippling into a violent shudder as she flexed her wrists against her confines.

Once again, Cloud began a rhythm of agonizing, slow pets against her rosy, wet flesh, caressing her lower lips and dipping his finger into her entrance just enough to test her wet heat and swirl in her steady stream of leaking arousal.He curled his finger into a hook and pulled at the tight rim of her opening, and Tifa let out an unrestrained moan.

Cloud looked at her again, full out grinning and glad that her eyes were concealed by the blindfold.

“What did I say?”

“I’m sorry, Love,” Tifa whispered, her voice cracking, “I’ll be quiet.”

“I’m not going to tell you again,” he warned.

She arched her back again beneath him, her hands fidgeting again in their binds, her breath coming out in tight, disjointed puffs, betraying the instability of her lungs.He brought both hands up to her split of flesh this time, his fingers gently spreading her open and caressing her folds until they flooded bright pink with blood again, and without warning, he lowered his lips to press a kiss to her clit.

“Oh, Cloud!” She cried out, hips leaving the mattress again.

Smirking victoriously, Cloud pulled away from her heat and sat up over her, looking down at her, watching her squirm.He crawled over her again, his face inches from hers as he took her chin in between two fingers.

“Naughty,” he scolded her, and he could hear her whimper low in her throat.“You know I’m gonna have to punish you, baby girl.”

He watched Tifa lick her lips before she nodded, and he was tempted to just say fuck it and grab her hips, burying himself inside of her and stroking her into the next century.

Instead, he took a deep breath and reached for the remaining satin bindings.Moving slowly to build her anticipation, to pulse the thrill through every nerve in her body the way it was sparking through his, he carefully first tied a strip around her mouth to muffle her noises, tying it behind her hair.Then he bent down and grabbed both of her ankles, pulling them back, and reached with his other hand to grab her bound wrists.With another strip of satin, he tethered her wrists and ankles together above her head, testing her flexibility and leaving her rear almost lifting off of the bed with the way she was bound.

Cloud slid off of the bed, stepping away a pace to admire his handiwork.Tied up like this, Tifa was perfectly vulnerable, her pussy wet and spread, her arms and legs pulled up and restrained in the air, her breasts heavy with her breaths, her lips rimmed wet as she salivated over the satin gag.It made him feel bloodthirsty inside, manic even, staring down at her flushed body in this exposed and defenseless state.Without thinking, he kicked away his pants and underwear and then crouched in front of her, taking her ankles into one hand and lifting her bottom up off of the bed with ease.

“When I say stay quiet, I mean, quiet.”His voice was a roll of thunder, and Tifa shuddered, spinning her hips in his direction.

Still holding her by the ankles, Cloud lifted her and began to slap his palm across the curves of her bottom in a series of smacks that were just hard enough to leave a rosy, warm, sting.He worked slowly, interspersing each strike with the soothing rub of his palm, squeezing her flesh tightly to chase the pain away.He would never hit her too hard, just enough to get his point across and to give her the thrill she was seeking. She began to emit desperate, high pitched sounds, mewling yelps, blended with whimpers and cries of his name.He didn’t mind at all that she was being noisy now.

He stopped after a moment, releasing his hold on her ankles and soothing the welted flesh of her rear with both hands, rubbing tender circles into her soft, creamy, skin.Her cries had leveled out to soft, needful whines, sending shards of glass into Cloud’s bloodstream and tearing his heart into hot shreds.Wanting to soothe her further, he began to run warm stripes along the insides and backs of her thighs with his open palms.

Leaving her tied in that position, Cloud pushed her thighs back and glanced between her legs again.She was making a mess on the bed, her arousal dripping out of her in a steady, unrelenting stream, staining the sheets and leaving her skin slick and wet.She was whining again, a pleading sound, and he could almost see her clit pulsing, begging him for his touch.

“Not yet,” Cloud crooned softly to her, taking his cock in his hand.She was too wet and too inviting, and he was near ruin, on the verge of collapse, his dick dripping at the tip, strained and throbbing from holding himself back.

Keeping one hand warm against her thigh, Cloud slid his length inside of her, her walls clenching him tightly as soon as he pushed in.Fuck, Tifa was tight.She was always fucking tight, but now, with her legs tied together above her head, her entire body filled with tension and need, she was a vice around him, pulsing with a dangerous mix of fire and electricity that was about to put him into his grave.Growling out a sigh, he began to push deeper inside of her, and her moans, muffled beneath satin, slammed into his senses as he slowly pulled out again, leaving her empty and aching and wanting.

Her cries were desperately pleading, and Cloud was beginning to tire of toying with her, wanting to see her writhe and scream beneath him in pleasure, calling his name as he wove her into a release she more than deserved.Stopping his slow grind, he pulled out to the tip and then leaned forward to untie the ribbons that bound her ankles and wrists, freeing her, and immediately, she dropped her arms and brought her hands to her breasts, squeezing them beneath her palms as her legs fell and spread to the sides.

Cloud leaned over her, pulling the blindfold and gag away next.She opened her eyes as soon as they were gone, rimmed with thick tears of frustration, her pupils blown open, her irises fire engine red.Her lips were painted with her saliva.

Cloud’s heart began to jackhammer at the pitiful look she was giving him, and instantly he crouched even closer to her, wiping first her eyes and then the side of her mouth with bent fingers.The head of his dick was still teasing her entrance, and Tifa was pushing her hips up to him, trying to get him to brush against her clit.

“You okay?” he breathed, seeing the distraught, despairing look on her face, her lips trembling as she tried to speak.She gave him a tiny nod.

“Cloud… please.I need -“

“I know,” he said, crashing his lips to hers and kissing her messily.Her tongue was hot and needy against his.He pulled back and looked her in the eyes, caressing her cheek.“I’m sorry.”

Maybe he had let this all go to his head.He was starting to feel like an ass.Immediately, Cloud pulled away from her, sliding between her legs, running his palms along her waist and squeezing her at the dips in her curves that he so treasured.Tifa purred at his touch, spurring him on, and after trailing kisses along her hipbone, he settled between her thighs, curling his arms under her to hold her tight, and pressed his lips to her clit in a gentle kiss.

“Oh, Cloud, please,” Tifa began to beg him immediately, writhing her hips, grabbing for the sheets and fisting them into knots in her fingers. “Please, please, baby, please.”

Fuck, he felt like an ass, but he also felt like a god, unleashing some unbridled power that had reduced her to liquid beneath him, leaving her a trembling, crying, whining mess.He wasn’t going to prolong this any longer, though.Humming against her skin, her arousal creating a fog around him, he buried face in her, running his tongue up from the base of her slit, gathering as much of her wetness on the tip of it that he could and dragging it up to her clit, flicking and tapping it and causing her to arch her back and cry out.

Once he reached her clit, he was relentless, drawing it between his lips and sucking, swirling his tongue over it, pressing kisses to it and gently tapping it with his teeth.She tasted divine, honeyed and sharp, and he lapped and drank at her skin hungrily. Tifa began to scream for him, crying his name at decibels that would wake their kids if she did not shut the fuck up.He didn’t give a shit, though, the sounds she was making were beautiful, were music to his ears, were otherworldly.He wanted her to completely unravel around him, wanted those sounds to descend into brokenness as she came apart right on his face.He smiled against her skin when he felt her hands drop to his hair, pulling painfully at his scalp, and he let her grind her clit against his tongue as her voice grew further shrill.He lifted his eyes to hers, catching her ruby depths darkened to a deep, earthy cabernet, tears sparkling against her lashes, the pleasure coating her gaze.Her mouth was open, her pink tongue on display, his name rolling off of it like a mantra, like a prayer.

“Cloud, Cloud, oh, Cloud, please…mmm… ah…”

Fuck, he wanted this to go on forever, but he felt her tense up, her thighs rising at both sides of his head, about to vice him in.Her fingers were pulling his hair out of his scalp, causing him to wince with pain.She was leaking all over his face, her wails piercing the air.Feeling her on the edge, he wrapped his mouth around her clit again and sucked hard.

Her back arched, lifting her hips from the bed and throttling him along with them.He kept his tongue to her, sucking her gently, her cries scorching his soul.He ran the flat of his palm across her belly, pressing her back down into the mattress and soothing her, working her back down from the high gently as she screamed and shouted, whipping her head from side to side.

“Cloud, fuck!Cloud!!”

Gods, he could do this for all of eternity.

Eventually, she seemed to come down enough to slide back from him, her screams subsided into desperate gasps for air.He pulled his lips away from her, glancing down to see her pink, swollen flesh, soaking wet and leaking everywhere, puddles on the sheets and her thighs and a waterfall on his chin. 

“Good?” he asked her, and he couldn’t help that there was a laugh in his voice.

Tifa nodded, but she still looked out of sorts, and Cloud crawled over her, wiping his mouth and chin on the back of his hand.She was waiting for him to finish, and far be it for him to keep her waiting.

He dropped his lips to hers, offering her a sweet, languid kiss while his knee gently parted her thighs.As their tongues met, he slowly slid his cock back beneath her legs and lined himself along her folds.

It took nothing for him to slide deep inside of her, the way that she was soaked and dripping from all of their foreplay, from her first climax.She welcomed him longingly, folding her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

Cloud propped himself up on one hand, now dizzy with her as she brought him in close, chest to chest and skin to skin, and he built a steady, deep, grinding rhythm, finding the fleshy patch inside of her that made volcanos erupt in her eyes.Her moans were not the desperate, frustrated screams they had been just moments before, instead, they were joyful and elated, happy, senual sounds of contentedness and adoration and love.She combed her fingers through his hair, this time not pulling it out but instead gently massaging his scalp as they kissed each other and moaned into each other’s mouths, calling one another’s names as their hips began to rise and fall in sync, making love to each other with the burn of the night’s passion scalding them both.

Cloud felt his climax building, but he was holding it back, wanting her to come apart again, wanting to see the pleasure contort her face one more time.It was rising inside of her, he could feel it in the way that her walls fluttered around him, the way her tummy tensed against his abdomen, the way her nails dug into his scalp and his shoulder, the way her voice keened his praises right into his ear.

“Oh, Cloud, yes.Please.Right there, my Love.Yes, baby.Please.Oh… I love you… Cloud…”

He could only growl into her shoulder, slamming his hips into hers harder as she called for him.Soon, her cries became unintelligible, and she was pulling his hair again, screaming his name so hard her voice shattered and broke as she came, and Cloud finally had the sense to try to silence her, covering her mouth with one hand, though now it was probably pointless, all things considered.

As she frayed under him, he worked his way to his own absolution in quick succession, letting himself go, spilling inside of her without warning.Tifa only purred beneath him, welcoming him with an even tighter embrace as he collapsed on top of her, unable to hold himself upright any longer.

They lay there for a long moment, sticky and wet with sweat, holding each other and inhaling oxygen in gulps.Tifa seemed to be settling in where she lay under his body, and Cloud looked down at her, finding her eyes closed.

“Tifa,” he called to her, and her eyes opened to slits, shining a wet line of crimson up at him.She looked like she was struggling to stay awake, as if she had been drugged and was falling under.

“Mmm,” she hummed in response.

Gathering his wits, Cloud rolled off of her and shifted to his side next to her, ignoring the thick puddle that pooled between their legs.The moonlight was highlighting Tifa’s skin and hair with shimmers, and with the flush in her skin, she was almost angelic, fuck, more than that, she was goddess-like.

He saw the blooms of damaged skin all over her neck, saw the redness around her wrists.He only imagined what her lower half looked like.

Playtime was over.

He sat up, looping his hands behind her neck and unclasping the howling moon chain.He pulled it away from her throat, letting it pool in his hand before he dropped it to the bedside table.He went into the table’s drawer and pulled out a small bottle of lotion, before crawling back over to Tifa and scooping her into his arms.

“You okay?” he asked her gently again.

She nodded, leaning into him.Her eyes had fallen shut again, and he could tell that she was exhausted and on the brink of passing out.

“You sure?” he prodded.“I think I took it too far, Tifa.”

Tifa opened her eyes then, looking up at him, slamming him with warm affection.“No, Cloud.I promise you didn’t.I would have told you.It was… good.”

Her voice was so small, and it left him feeling skeptical.“Are you sure, Teef?” He brought his hand to her cheek, cupping it gently, letting his fingers caress the tender flesh under her eye.“You were crying, and…”

“Cloud,” she stopped him, sitting up a little so they were eye level next to each other on the bed.“I liked it.I never… had an orgasm that was that powerful.And you always make me come.”

Cloud blinked at her, watching the bright red blush erupt and spread across her cheeks.How did she manage to take something so suggestive and blatantly sexual and make it sound so innocent and sweet?Goddamnit, she was going to destroy him.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, finding himself falling hopelessly in love with her all over again as if it were the very first time, as if he were fourteen years old again and sitting next to her on a rackety old water tower under a sea of stars.

He spent the next few moments soothing her, running lotion into her flesh, rubbing away the red soreness he’s pressed into her skin, kissing away the marks he’d bitten into her before he gathered her into his arms and pulled the blankets high around them.Tifa snuggled instantly against him, burying her face in the crook of his neck and shoulder, her arm wrapped around his chest and her leg slung over his hips as she hummed against him again.

Feeling his heart settle again into a calm rhythm, Cloud looked down at her and brought his fingers to her hair, carding through its dark silk gently as he watched her settle comfortably against him.

“Tifa,” he ventured to her softly.“I’m sorry if I got that all wrong.I’m not exactly -“

He was stopped with her finger pressed to his lip, and she lifted her head, her dark red eyes meeting his sleepily as she shushed him.“No, Cloud.You were perfect.Exactly what I wanted.”

She leaned forward and kissed his nose, her index finger tracing his chin in a line before she repeated, “You’re exactly what I want.”

Cloud felt the warmth unfolding in his chest again, bursting into bubbles and exuding affection.He cradled her closer to him, his arms tight around her.

“I love you, Teef,” he whispered, dropping his head to the pillow and closing his eyes.

“I love you, too, Cloud.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I don't know what the fuck is wrong with me either.
> 
> find me on twitter @nitezintodreamz


	3. Ready to Catch Your Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud takes Tifa away for a weekend getaway: Part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello.
> 
> Thank you everyone for your kind and encouraging words on this story and sorry for the long wait on the update. I try to keep up with this when I can.
> 
> And of course, thank you to spaceodementia for beta'ing my insanity, you are a saint and ILY.
> 
> There's really not much for me to say here except to warn you that there is absolutely no plot within and this is about 12K words of fluff and smut. Enjoy.

Chapter Three

—————— 

Ready to Catch Your Tears

Early Friday morning later that week, Tifa rose to find the space beside her in the bed cool, leaving her to wrinkle her nose in disappointment as she realized that she was alone. She blinked, opening her eyes and sitting up on her elbow, Cloud’s side of the bed empty with the exception of a neatly folded piece of white card stock.

She yawned, pulling herself up to slowly to sit fully upright and staring at the small slip of paper, her heart beginning to pound, wondering why he would leave her a note on the bed like that, before disappearing for the day without saying goodbye.

As irrational as it was, she had to admit that it scraped a little too much at the edges of memories that she was happy to leave forgotten, and she swallowed back a slight lump as she reached for the card and carefully unfolded it between her fingers. 

Cloud’s small, careful print was pressed into the inside of the card in black ink, the letters so tiny that Tifa had to rub the sleep out of her eyes to focus properly.

_Tifa,_

_I’m sorry that I left so early this morning without telling you. I have a lot of work to get done so I can get home early, and I didn’t want to wake you. You looked so beautiful and peaceful, I didn’t want to disturb you._

_I’m taking you away for the weekend. You’ve been working really hard lately, and every night you come to bed tense and exhausted. I need you to relax._

_Barret is going to pick the kids up as soon as they get home from school, so make sure their overnight bags are packed before he gets here._

_Shut the bar down for the next few days and don’t open it today, not even for a few hours, Tifa. I mean it._

_We’re going to that ski resort that’s opened outside of Icicle, the one with the hot springs. So make sure you pack the right clothes. I already packed, so don’t worry about me._

_I want you to go shopping today and buy yourself whatever you want. Things to wear when we go out and when we go to bed. You know what I like._

_And don’t forget to pack the necklace._

_I love you, baby girl. I’ll see you in a few hours._

_Cloud_

Tifa drew in a sharp breath, reading and re-reading his words, a bright pink blush warming her cheeks along with a bewildering sense of disbelief.

A weekend getaway with Cloud, which meant just a little over two days with no kids or responsibilities, and in Icicle Inn of all places, one of her favorite parts of the world for its cold, snowy weather that reminded her of better days in Nibelheim, when she would watch the snowfalls in the evenings during the Yule season. Tifa had seen advertisements on television that featured the new ski resort, a beautiful, rustic enclave built into the side of the Northern cliff face that peered over the sleepy glacial village. She had even read a few articles about it online, admiring its wood cabins that encased velvet and leather furnishings and gas fireplaces in the photographs. But admiration had been the extent of it; she had never really even entertained the idea that they might actually ever visit it. She and Cloud rarely took vacations anywhere, other than the few times they took the kids to the Gold Saucer or to Costa Del Sol once or twice a year. They certainly never took trips alone, just the two of them, and especially not to such indulgent places such as ski resorts. She wondered idly how much Cloud might have already spent on this trip, knowing his poor management with finances, and suddenly felt a slight, blended rise of guilt and worry build in her throat. Even worse, he was asking her to spend even more gil on clothes and material things. It was almost enough to make her laugh. Cloud did not handle much of their family finances outside of his own accounting of the delivery service, which Tifa was careful to monitor and check and recheck. And Tifa was frugal when it came to frivolous and ancillary expenses. For one, she kept her wardrobe tight if not providently fashionable. She rarely spent money on things like lingerie or fancy dresses or evening wear, especially since she never happened upon such occasions to need to dress in such ways in the first place. She was always happy for Cloud to take her up against a wall or toss her in the center of their mattress while she was wearing nothing but one of his old t-shirts and a pair of cotton panties.

Still, a bigger part of her couldn’t shake the thrill that grew in her at his words on the page. The idea of a weekend alone with him, where they could indulge in nothing but each other, would be unlike anything they’d actually ever had time for since… since _ever_. They’d _never_ had time for something like this, not since they’d been together, not since the multiple times the world had tried to end while they tried to fit together the pieces of their relationship. Letting go for a weekend to enjoy each other was a suddenly exhilarating idea. And buying things for herself, fancy things that she could dress up and look pretty in, standing at his side… it seemed nice, far out of her usual place, but like a distant dream or a fantasy that she couldn’t resist if given the opportunity.

And the necklace. Her cheeks flared when she read the last instruction in his note. She hadn’t worn the necklace since several days earlier that week, when they’d first crossed together new boundaries in their relationship together. Every intimate exchange since had been completely vanilla between them, not that Tifa had any issue with that. She loved any way that Cloud touched her, savored any way that she could get her own hands on him. And they had both worked hard all week and took care of the kids and fell into bed exhausted each night, and Tifa had been too shy to even bring it up again, letting the howling moon chain settle deep into the velvet grooves of the jewelry box on her vanity table.

Yet she couldn’t ignore the excited, aroused need that flushed over her when she thought about being under his power again, the soft, warm caress of his fingertips again and the gentle, heated brush of his lips against her skin, teasing and pulling her apart until she completely unraveled.

With that thought sending the fire straight to her core, Tifa swung her legs out of bed, a smile painted on her lips, thinking about the possibilities as she reached for her PHS to send Yuffie Kisaragi a quick text.

**_Tifa:_ ** _In the mood to go shopping this morning?_

* * *

Bringing Yuffie shopping with her had _not_ been the best idea she’d ever had.

A shopping trip that might have only taken a couple of hours stretched well past two in the afternoon, when Tifa had to finally insist that they spent enough time in the boutiques and amongst the street vendors, that she had purchased enough for her weekend getaway and that she needed to get back to Seventh Heaven before the kids get home from school.

“We are not going anywhere until you get at least one swimsuit,” Yuffie demanded, trying to steer Tifa in the direction of one tiny boutique in particular. “And you don’t have enough lingerie. Everything in that last shop was dull. You need something really sexy for a weekend like this!”

Tifa sighed in frustration, shaking her head from side to side. “We’re going to Icicle Inn, Yuffie,” she complained. “What on Gaia would I need a swimsuit for?”

Yuffie’s hand flew instantly to her hip. “Please tell me you aren’t serious. The hot springs, Tifa? Aside from skiing, they are only, like, the _main_ reason to vacation in Icicle, especially with a hot date. Why do you think Cloud chose that resort? You’ve seen the commercials, right?”

Tifa could only blush, knowing that she had, and finding herself only imagining the sensation of slipping into a hot spring with Cloud at her side, wearing nothing but immodest swimwear, the air around them frigid with the Northern cold.

“Don’t look so scandalized, Tifa,” Yuffie yipped, now shoving her into the shop. “You would think you were sixty-five years old and not twenty-five. Besides, your hubby said to buy whatever you want, so let’s max out this card if we have to.”

Tifa _really_ regretted bringing Yuffie along for this shopping trip.

In the end, Tifa had certainly not maxed out any cards, but she did return home with several shopping bags full of new clothes that she felt almost criminal for buying once she began to unload their contents on to their bed upstairs, tearing off the tags so she could begin to pack.

Yuffie insisted on sticking around to help her inventory her new purchases, Tifa’s heart building its tempo again inside her chest as the minutes stretched by. She stared at the garments strewn across the bed - soft sweater dresses and dark wash jeggings, a couple of satiny, wispy knit dresses, several new pairs of thigh-highs, and several sets of lacy lingerie, strappy, lacy bodysuits, and teddies complete with garter belts and scalloped-trims. With a few exceptions, nearly everything she’d picked out was in dark, vibrant shades of blacks and crimsons and violets and deep, royal blues, knowing how much Cloud savored the contrast of vivid colors against her skin.

Tifa blushed, shaking her head in trepidation as she carefully folded the items and stored them away into her overnight bag.

“You’d better be careful, Tifa,” Yuffie suddenly warned. “You might give Cloud a heart attack and kill him.”

As if to illustrate this point, Yuffie was dangling a particularly sheer pair of fuschia panties in the air when they heard the familiar eruption of laughter and feet against the floorboards downstairs, and she dropped them, stopping Tifa when she got to her feet.

“Finish packing, Teef,” she told her. “I’ll go make sure that the kids have a snack and are ready for Barret when he gets here.”

“Just please don’t use the stove,” Tifa cautioned. “There’s plenty of dry snacks in the pantry that they can have.”

Yuffie emitted a sarcastic guffaw in response as she disappeared, and Tifa shook her head, packing the rest of her things for the trip and then double checking Marlene and Denzel’s bags to make sure they had everything they needed for their weekend with Barret as well.

By the time she’d finished getting everything together and had showered and dressed for the evening, wearing simple pair of powder blue jeggings with a black v-neck sweater and suede boots, she’d made her way downstairs to find that not only had Barret arrived, but Cloud had as well. Both men were sitting at the bar while the children ran and hopped through the dining room, Yuffie enveloped into their excitement.

“Tifa!” Marlene exclaimed when she appeared, carrying their overnight bags over her shoulders. “Papa is taking us with Cid to Cosmo Canyon!”

“I can’t wait!” Denzel cried.

Tifa glanced at Barret, who was grinning at her from ear to ear, clapping Cloud suddenly on the back, who sat forward with a start.

“As soon as Spike called me, I got on the horn with Cid,” Barret announced triumphantly. “With the weather being what it is out East, perfect timing to take the kids to the Canyon to see the Planetarium and learn a little history.” He turned to Marlene and offered her a wink. “Nanaki and Nekura are really looking forward to seeing ‘em.”

“Nekura?” Tifa repeated, and even Cloud had turned to Barret in interest.

“Ah… “ he scratched the side of his head, glancing over at Marlene again with hesitation. “Nanaki’s… mate. It’s a long story,” he finished with an awkward grumble.

At that, Tifa turned to Cloud, her eyes meeting his, and she couldn’t stop herself from beaming back at him when he offered her a smile. 

“A mate? He never said anything to me about a mate!” Yuffie exclaimed, and this prolonged the conversation and set it off in an entirely new direction.

Eventually, though, Barret yelled at everyone that it was time to get going, and he shuffled the kids out of the door after they’d shared their hugs and goodbyes with Cloud and Tifa, Yuffie following closely behind, insisting that she too would be joining them in Cosmo Canyon to meet Nanaki’s new squeeze.

“Everyone is boo’d up but me!” she complained on her way out the door.

At last, Cloud and Tifa were standing alone in the center of Seventh Heaven’s dining room, and somehow, ever since the front door had closed and the noisy laughter of their friends and children had dissipated, Tifa realized that the bright aqua in Cloud’s eyes had shifted into a far darker shade of midnight, his pointed stare glued right on her face.

Nervously, Tifa looked down at the floor, twirling her fingers together, wishing that she had something productive to do with her hands. The intensity and the longing behind his gaze were beginning to overpower her, and she realized that his eyes had dropped to her throat.

The howling crescent moon. She had looped it around her neck right after she’d gotten dressed, tucking the charm into the collar of her sweater, but she hadn’t expected for it to drop out into visibility, where he was now zeroed in on it.

“… You’re home a lot sooner than I was expecting,” she finally severed the silence, her voice breaking free in little more than a whisper.

Cloud offered her a small shrug of one shoulder, tipping his head to one side at her in the way that always made her heart stutter, where his eyes would give a faint, sudden glow, alerting her to the fact that he was drinking her in, staring deep into her, past her skin and bones and right into her soul.

“I wanted us to get to Icicle in time for dinner,” he told her, his eyes now sweeping her from head to toe. “You look really nice, Tifa.”

She smiled shyly when their eyes met again, her hands now folded still in front of her. The weight of his stare was too heavy, too suggestive, and instantly her thoughts were drifting to the very fact that they were moments from escaping for an entire weekend together, one where it was clear that they were leaving their inhibitions behind in Edge. 

She was terrified, but it was the sensual, raging, thrilling kind of terror that had the warmth pulsing between her legs, anticipation already setting her alight.

“T-thanks,” she finally managed.

Cloud seemed aware of her heightened, flustered state and the effect of his words and stares were already creating, because he smirked before thumbing back towards the stairs.

“I’m gonna go shower,” he told her. “You ready to go?”

“Everything is packed,” she rejoined with a slow breath.

“Good girl.” 

He winked, turning towards the stairs, and Tifa watched the definition of his shoulders twitch as he turned and ascended the stairs in the back of the room, and she almost didn’t think she would last until they made it to Icicle Inn.

After he’d disappeared, Tifa made her way behind the bar, pouring herself a shot of whiskey and throwing it back quickly as she waited for him to return.

* * *

Tifa had her arms wrapped tight around Cloud’s waist, her cheek pressed against the soft leather of his riding jacket as he drove Fenrir toward the coasts near Midgar, the winter winds whipping her hair and biting her cheeks with cold. They were headed to the transport station outside of the old floating city, Cloud suggesting that they take the new ferry system to the Northern Continent rather than try to negotiate for an airship.

Tifa didn’t care how they got to Icicle Inn, what with the way that she was pressed against Cloud’s hard, muscular body, heat emanating right through the heavy layers of fabric they were both wearing and warming the inside of her chest. All she hoped was that they get there soon, she was so desperate to have his hands on her, to be able to exchange blissful caresses with him throughout the night. At this rate, she wasn’t even going to be able to survive through dinner.

Cloud parked Fenrir in the underground lot at the transport station, unloading and shouldering both of their overnight bags, waving Tifa off when she tried to carry her own. Instead, he looped his arm around her waist and pulled her in close as they made their way through the buzz of passengers that were en route to the ferries and rail and bus stations and helipads.

In the five years since Meteorfall, the WRO had invested extensive gil and material resources into developing and expanding transportation access and services across the Planet, systems that were designed using new solar, wind, and steam technologies. It made international travel and commerce more effective, and while Tifa knew that Cloud was familiar with these systems from his delivery work, she herself had yet to ever take one of the new trains or ships; the few times they had taken the kids anywhere, they’d relied on Cid’s airship.

Afternoon’s dusk was just beginning to fall, blunting the sky with faded lines of indigo and purple as they made their way to the docks by the coastline, taking the ramp to a steam-powered ferry that was docked along the rocks. Their boat was scheduled to depart in just a few minutes, and Cloud pressed his hand against the small of her back as they stepped inside the passenger cabin. Tifa noticed how closely Cloud hovered, the way that he kept her close to the shell of his inner body, almost possessively.

Tifa settled quietly into a seat, feeling the chill from the sea winds already billowing through her hair and stinging her through her coat and sweater as the ferry soon departed from the shores of the Eastern Continent and made its way North. Sensing her tense up from the cold, Cloud wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close to him and dropping his mouth by her the side of her face in a kiss that was barely a brush. Tifa felt the warmth of his lips bubble over her skin, inflaming her cheek that was bitten by the cold. It was an electrifying sensation, soft and tentative but chased by the delicate heat of his breath as he skirted his lips up to her ear.

“You okay?” he asked her so softly she almost didn’t hear him over the winds or the crash of the ocean against the ferry’s starboards.

“Mhm,” she nodded, curling in closer to him, craving the warmth of his body as he hovered close and around her. “Kinda cold, but I’m okay.”

He brought his other arm up and around her, pulling her in for a fully affectionate embrace, encircling her in all of the heat of his upper body. “Just a little while longer,” he whispered, pressing another kiss to her flesh, this time right under her earlobe, at the spot where the line of her jaw began. “I’ll get you nice and warm soon.”

His hand had dropped to find the inside of her wrist where it lay in her lap, fingers curling and pressing against her pulse, and Tifa found herself turning in to him again to bury her face against his neck, another jolt of anticipation coursing through her veins and making her suddenly forget the cold they both were surrounded by.

The journey to Icicle Inn was just under three hours, an unbearable stretch of time, made worse by Cloud’s constant nuzzling at her side, his nose brushing against her jaw, his lips snaking past her ear, his forehead bumping against hers. His arms remained fully locked around her upper body, caging her into the little warmth he could provide, the fingers of one hand threading through the wisps of dark hair by her shoulders while the other continued to gently stroke the soft skin of her wrist beneath the sleeve of her coat. He murmured unintelligible promises into her ear that were nearly drowned out by the wind and the waves, soft, sensual devotions of future lovemaking that would last late into the night.

There were not many other passengers on this particular ferry ride, but still, Tifa had never seen Cloud behave with such flagrant, public displays of affection. But he was building her up, she realized. It was only the beginning of his merciless teasing, she feared.

Building her up to a high before the incredible, terrible fall.

When they reached the Northern continent, the sky was full dark with the exception of splattered bands of stars in the sky, as if a child had spilled a jar of blue and periwinkle glitter across the atmosphere. Yet it was only just past seven in the evening, the change in timezones having bought them an extra two hours.

They rode a tram from the docks, Cloud holding Tifa by the waist in front of him as they traveled deeper into the continent toward the black, rocky crags that surrounded Icicle Inn. As they made their way hand in hand in the direction of the ski-resort, Tifa felt the northern chill enter her bones, far colder than the winter weather that had descended on the Eastern continent. But she didn’t mind it, not when she looked around at the endless sea of white and the stretches of snow-covered fields and hills that shone with a bright blue sparkle beneath the starlight overhead. 

Back home in Nibelheim, winter had always been her favorite season because of its snowfalls. The storms blew in with the gales from Mt. Nibel, leaving the village that was otherwise dusty and barren to suddenly appear bright and shimmery, the exploding blankets of white begging her to run outside and toss herself into their depths until her cheeks were rosy and burning from the frost.

Icicle Inn had the same sort of appeal, but magnified tenfold. Everything around them was stark white and frigid, the air so crisp and cold it bit the inside of her lungs every time she inhaled.

The ski resort that they were staying at - named simply and aptly _The Lodge_ , was built right into the side of a mountain just a mile outside of the town proper of Icicle Inn. From their place in the valley, Tifa could see the cluster of independent cabins built into the cliff face that was situated around the resort’s main center, the dark wood catching the glint of moonlight above. Tifa caught her bottom lip between her teeth, realizing with excitement that one of those tiny, secluded cottages would be theirs for the next two days. They had to ride a standing-room-only ropeway up the mountain to access the resort, Cloud once again positioning himself behind Tifa, now holding her by her hips, pressing her against the front of his body as they traveled with a handful of other quiet couples up to the resort. During the ride, Cloud kept her close to him, his chin against her shoulder, the heat and hard lines of his body pressed against the back of hers.

Teasing.

When they made it to The Lodge, Tifa was immediately in awe of the cozy, pastoral atmosphere. The yellow lighting in the main lobby was dim, enhanced only by glass-encased candelabras that danced with the glow of real flames, casting everything with a soft, orange illumination. Everything was paneled in wood, interrupted by walls painted in deep shades of cream and ivory, the furnishings plush velvets and leathers in a palette of deep chocolates and dark blues. The quaintness of the lobby alone had Tifa gushing inside, feeling as if someone had stolen the canvas and painted this design directly for her own deep fantasies and wishes.

“Name, sir?”

Cloud had stopped by the concierge, dropping their coats and bags on a bellhop’s cart, leaving Tifa to wander and admire the rest of the lobby while he handled the arrangements for their stay. Perhaps because it was the weekend during the middle of the school year, or maybe because it was growing late in the evening, but Tifa noticed that most of the other guests who passed through the lobby or settled into the couches by the hearth were couples, no children or families in sight. Skimming past that thought, she stopped by a volley of floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the plunge of the mountains and offered a brilliant view of the ski slopes up ahead. Rubbing her arms, she felt the warmth of the hearth beside her begin to seep into her skin and soothe away the chill she had lived with since they’d left Edge.

It was beautiful, and she couldn’t stop the bright smile that pulled across her lips as she thought about it, about the icy, pristine white and navy blue landscape outside contrasting with the fiery, earthy sienna comforts inside of this lodge.

She was _really_ looking forward to this weekend.

“What’s got you smiling?” 

His voice was soft by her hair and his hands were on her hips again, this time a little rougher, the tips of his fingers digging into the soft knit of her sweater. Feeling the pressure from those skillful, graceful digits, images of them dancing across her flesh and raising gooseflesh, Tifa impulsively rocked against him, and now that they were both divested of their outerwear, Tifa could feel every hard plane and border of him crushing against her. It took everything in her now limited self-control not to arch her back and reach an arm behind her to card her fingers through his hair.

“I was just thinking about how beautiful this is, Cloud,” she sighed, wondering idly why her breath was already so stolen. “Everything about it, the snow, the cabins, the mountains… it reminds me of Nibelheim, around Yule… those first snowfalls, when everything was so pretty and calm…”

Her voice trailed off, and Tifa closed her eyes against a sudden and unwelcome memory that seeped out of a previously sealed crevice of her mind. Cloud seemed to feel the tension rise, because he lifted his hands away from her hips and wrapped both arms tight around the front of her body, squeezing it away.

“They’re bringing everything up to our cabin,” he informed her with the light press of a kiss against the side of her neck. “We have a voucher for dinner. We can eat at the bar before we get settled in for the night.”

“I’m not hungry,” Tifa protested without missing a beat, wanting to go to their room immediately.

Cloud expelled a dark chuckle next to her ear, turning her around so that she could face him. At once, she dropped into the depth of his deep, ultramarine eyes, the mako around the rim of his pupils pulsing calmly while his irises swirled with a thousand shades of blue and green.

“You need to eat, Tifa,” he scolded her gently, both hands sliding down her shoulders to her waist.

She knew that tone. It was the tone that seized Cloud’s voice whenever the possession and desire to control was taking root in his blood, the tone that had pushed her into wanting more of this side of him in the first place. Just the way her name rolled off his tongue, dark and gritty with the flare of a warning behind it, had her yearning to be under him, pleasured or punished, or whatever he wanted.

“Okay, Love,” she found herself whispering, desperate to please him, and she was rewarded by the specter of a smirk tugging one corner of his mouth before he took her hand in his and led her through the lobby to the adjoining dining room.

It was clearly the offseason, because even the dining room was light with guests. Cloud and Tifa took a seat at one far end of the bar, Cloud leaning close to her and tossing her admiring glances as they ate and drank. Tifa realized that she had been famished, but it was almost impossible for her to focus on her meal with the way that Cloud’s cerulean pools continually attempted to drown her whenever he stole a glance at her. She was two tumblers into the strongest local whiskey they had to offer when Cloud set his own glass down and turned to her again, this time reaching a hand across her lap to find hers.

“You ready for this weekend?” he asked her carefully, his voice low and almost inaudible over the gentle din of the dining room behind them.

Tifa swallowed her whiskey back, feeling the heat bloom anew in her chest, feeling her blood stain her cheeks. His stare was so intense, an unconventional blend of longing and sheltering protectiveness that seemed to submerge her as he leaned in closer to her, his eyes dropping from where they hovered at her lips to the chain that was settled against the tender gap in her throat.

“I am, Love,” she responded carefully, watching his stare devour her body in a long, downward trail before they rose up again to fall to her face.

“C’mon,” he rose, leaving some gil on the counter before he reached for her hand and pulled her along, quickly sidling her up beside him and wrapping his arm possessively around her waist as they left the main chalet together.

The cabins were connected to the central hub of the resort through interconnecting, torchlit caverns that were carved into the mountain, and it didn’t take Cloud and Tifa long to reach their accommodations for the weekend, the staff having already dropped off their belongings inside. Like the chalet they’d just departed, their cabin was decorated in inviting, warm browns and creams and teals, outfitted with a plush, bone-colored carpet, a hearth burning in the center of the living room. 

Cloud quietly closed the door behind them while Tifa explored the cabin, discovering the provincial kitchenette and the spacious bathroom that was outfitted with both a gleaming, glass-encased shower and a claw-footed porcelain tub. The last room she discovered was the bedroom, spacious with a fully stocked sidebar and a king-sized, four-poster bed that was covered in lush, inviting deep blue and cream-colored quilts and fleece blankets.

It was so much larger than their modest, queen-sized bed back home in Edge, and Tifa found herself imagining all of the different ways that Cloud could twist her against the mattress, the ways that she could eventually turn around and press him back into it, returning the favor.

Nearly grinning at that thought, Tifa’s attention was caught by the glimmer of starlight against tall glass windows, alerting her to the sliding doors that led out to a small, private balcony.

Intrigued, she crossed the room and pushed the doors open, stepping outside onto the wooden deck and immediately feeling the claws of the frigid Northern air grip her entire body in a tight clench. She shivered, but made her way to the balcony’s railing, immediately captivated by the stunning views of Icicle Inn and the Northern Continent beyond. She could see the dark gray peaks that lined the continent and shielded her view from the far North and the crater where they had once stood on the precipice of the apocalypse together, surrounded by endless blankets of snow that stretched on and on until they greeted the horizon.

Yet what really caught Tifa’s eye was the narrow, winding mountain path that led away from a small gate built into the balcony’s railing, down and about fifty feet away to where she spotted a small outcropping in the mountain’s chasm, a shallow, opalescent pool of water that appeared a shimmering onyx under the cover of darkness, breathing waves of steam into the air above.

Their own, personal hot spring.

Her imagination beginning to run wild, Tifa was biting her bottom lip when she felt strong, warm hands grip her shoulders, gently urging her to turn. She tore her eyes away from the landscape to face Cloud, crimson eyes widening slightly when they crashed into a searing blue.

“Tifa,” his voice was low and rumbly again, the same chastising tone he’d held earlier. It set her blood on fire. “What are you doing out here? You’re gonna catch a cold.”

Tifa swallowed carefully, her gaze locked with his as if she was held under the paralyzing force of an apparition, wondering if he knew how easily even a look and a tilt of his head could unravel her. As his stare continued to penetrate her with unnerving accuracy, piercing her heart, she was sure that he did.

“S-sorry,” she whispered, feeling a wave of shyness bundle tight around her. “It’s just so pretty out here. And we have our own hot spring.” She pointed down the crags.

Cloud snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her body close to his, immediately transferring some of his warmth to her, and Tifa realized how cold she was and how desperately she needed to be near him. She smiled, leaning in and savoring the feel of him and his scent, clean and crisp and dangerously masculine, underlined by the faintest, far away tinge of mako in his blood. It was that Cloud-like essence that she was so familiar with, that she had been comforted by for so many years, stretching back to their reunion in a slum in Midgar.

“We can check out the springs tomorrow,” he promised her, kissing her forehead. “Right now, let’s go to bed.”

The way he said _bed_ had Tifa feeling something reignite inside her core, spreading heat in every direction. She said nothing when Cloud led her back inside the cabin, into the bedroom they would be sharing, carefully but firmly sliding the door to the balcony shut.

“Go get ready for bed,” he instructed her, taking a seat on the edge of the mattress and nodding at where he’d left their duffle bags on a luggage stand in one corner by the closet. “I wanna see what you bought today.”

The tenor in his voice was so low but somehow commanding, and Tifa wasn’t sure how he managed such a terrifyingly sensual dichotomy. It was turning her knees to jelly, weakening her where she stood, and she instantly wished for another drink to steel her nerves for the rest of the night. At that thought, she chanced a hesitant glance at the sidebar in the corner before she turned to where Cloud was pulling his sweater and undershirt over his head, revealing his toned, chiseled abdomen and lean, well-defined arms.

_Sweet Shiva, he’s going to kill me._

“Okay, Love,” Tifa cooed bashfully beneath her breath, turning away from him to rifle through her overnight bag, grabbing her toiletries, and choosing one of the sets of lingerie she had purchased with Yuffie before making her way into the adjoining bathroom to put it on.

She could hear Cloud quietly moving around in the bedroom as she changed, sending her heart into a furious new rise in her chest, causing her skin to already flush with anticipation as she imagined the passions and connections in store for them both that night, remembering the words printed on the card he’d left for her that morning and the words he’d whispered delicately into her ear aboard the ferry.

She’d chosen that night to wear the first piece of lingerie that had caught her eye when she’d been shopping - a one-piece, lace-up teddy in a deep crimson red that matched the brightest cuts of ruby in her eyes. Its corset was a snug fit tight around her body, wrapping her like the plastic around a piece of candy, cinching her waist and pushing her breasts up so that they spilled slightly over the scalloped edges of the neckline. She ran her brush through her hair and pressed a little gloss to her lips, glancing at her reflection in the mirror before returning to find Cloud still sitting on the edge of the bed, only now stripped down to his boxers and holding two tumblers of whiskey in hand.

His eyes were darkened over with lust as he watched her approach, their glow seeming to brighten the closer she drew near. He had dimmed the lights, and this only made them shine an even brighter shade of turquoise as he stared at her. Tifa could barely contain her own wild desire, sparks riding up her nerves as she stopped in front of him.

“You’re beautiful, Tifa,” Cloud breathed after a moment, his eyes again traveling her body. He held out her tumbler to her, and she gingerly accepted it, smiling against the glass rim as she brought it to her lips. “But that looks like it’s really complicated to get you out of.”

He was pouting a little, a look that still made her giddy and turned her insides gooey whenever he offered it. It prodded at something playful in her, and she tiptoed even closer, swallowing back her drink, the alcohol whispering another hint of gentle intoxication into her blood.

“Maybe I want to make you work for it,” she dared.

Cloud stared at her, sipping his drink with a smirk. She lifted hers and sipped again, but before she could drain it, Cloud was at his feet, taking her glass out of her hand.

“And you were being so good,” he chastised with a toss of his head, golden spikes fanning out around his head. “I see you want to be naughty, now.”

Tifa felt the warmth dip again to her center at the timbre in his voice. She watched him walk the glasses to the counter by the television before he went through his bag and pulled out a long strip of dark red silk. He turned back to her, walking up to her and taking both wrists in his hands, rubbing his thumbs over her pulse points the way he had on the ferry. He crowded closer to her, their noses barely touching as he carefully wove the silk between her wrists, binding them together.

“If I can’t get this off,” he whispered teasingly next to her ear, thumbing the lace strap by her shoulder, “How am I supposed to make you come all night the way I was planning to?”

Tifa felt a shudder wash over her when his breath trailed her collarbone, before he leaned in and nuzzled his nose against the soft flesh at the dip at the base of her throat. She said nothing, only able to swallow carefully in response.

“Close your eyes.” 

She obeyed, and as soon as she did, she felt his hands on her body, one wrapping around the base of her throat, the other charting a trail that began at her left shoulder, fingertips tracing slow, haunting patterns over the lace of her bodysuit, traversing her breasts, tugging at the ribbon of the corset’s lace-up front, loosening the first few loops before dropping to caress and hover at her abdomen.

Wrists bound together in front of her, Tifa felt herself impulsively rock up and forward on her toes, flames deep inside being stoked by the feather-light press of his touch down her body, his grip on her throat firm and sure but somehow also tender and reassuring. The combination of sensations sent conflicting messages to her brain, all of it melding into a cauldron of fiery, hot desire, sending a pulsating ache straight to her clit, electrifying her insides until they began to leak.

“It does look so good on you,” he whispered against her ear, his voice a sonorous tremor that had her arching her back so that her breasts gently pressed against his chest. At the slight edge of contact, she felt the tingle in her nipples erupt, making her suddenly aware of how sensitive every coveted part of her body was becoming, of how much she wanted his fingers and lips and every part of his skin brushing up against every part of hers.

His hand dipped away from her belly to slip between her thighs, two fingers gliding over the seam of her sex, somehow skirting around where her clit was trapped beneath the combination of satin and lace. Instead, he pressed the fabric teasingly right at the warm, wet spot where her entrance was covered, leaving her now not only with a hungry throb but a desperate need for fullness.

Cloud tightened his grip just slightly around her throat, then leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers for what she realized was the first time since they had left Seventh Heaven. In her electrified state, the soft feel of his lips against her was a lightning bolt that ignited the very air around her, sending shockwaves through her nerves. Unable to stop herself, she shuffled her feet apart, widening her legs for him.

_Please, take me_ , she wanted to beg so badly, but his tongue was in her mouth now, its tip gently pressing into the center of hers, sending fire into her lungs. She moaned into his mouth instead, Cloud’s thumb now gently stroking the side of her throat with a treacherous pressure.

His other hand was still flirting between her legs, lazily seeking every inch of her inner thighs and discovering every surface of crimson lace that kept her raw, bruising need separated from his explorations. Impulsively, she lifted one leg to give him better access, attempting to wrap it around his waist, only to have him shove it back down.

“You’re being a brat,” he reprimanded her, pulling his mouth away from hers harshly, leaving her feeling even further abandoned. She opened her eyes to the sight of his eyes glowing bright aquamarine, and he cocked his head to the side, giving it a little toss. “Keep your eyes closed, or you’re gonna get spanked.”

His tone turned her bones into liquid, and she shut her eyes, again feeling herself grow desperately wet against the crotch of her teddy, wishing in earnest she had not put this stupid thing on in the first place. But she felt a small sense of relief when Cloud released her throat and gently turned her around, giving her a light shove toward the bed until she fell to the edge and sat.

She kept her eyes closed as she settled on the bed, the down comforter soft against the backs of her thighs and the fleshy parts of her bottom that were not covered in satin. She could feel him as he crept closer to her, hovering over her, dropping one hand into her hair and stroking the top of her head with a tender sweetness that had both her heart and her innermost walls melting with affection and desire. He leaned forward, just enough so she felt first the brush of the soft cotton of his underwear across her cheek, followed by the press of his length, hard and warm beneath the fabric, alerting her instantly to the severity of his own desire.

“You want to be a good girl, or do you want to keep acting up?”

Tifa breathed, her heart pounding. His voice was roughed over like it had been littered with gravel, and it was sending adrenaline spiking through her blood, making her almost dizzy with want. She loved it when he talked to her like this; it probably gave her more thrill than any other part of this new game they were playing with each other. The thought of him scolding her for misbehaving, threatening to take her over his knees, praising her when she did well and she behaved...

She was leaking when she turned her face to brush her lips against his clothed cock, wanting badly now to wrap her lips around it and to feel him fill her throat, almost as badly as she wanted him to quell the warring aches in her pussy.

He was hers. Her Cloud, the man that she loved more than anyone or anything on the planet, the man who she had been through so much heartache with, the man who had been beside her throughout it all, good times and bad, who was firm at her side, steady and protective and loving and so, so, beautiful she could weep sometimes when she looked at him, disbelieving the gods viewed her so favorably.

_Hers_.

“Yes, Love,” she whispered with as much obedience as she could summon.

Enamored, Cloud dropped a hand to stroke the side of her cheek, brushing his fingers across her lips and separating the bottom from the top. He prodded at the line of her teeth, forcing her to open her mouth. She complied, taking his hint and opening wide. He rewarded her for her docility by dropping the tip of his cock to the center of her tongue.

Without being told, Tifa instantly wrapped her lips around him, his girth stretching her jaw slightly. She paused to let the saliva flood her mouth so that she could run slick along his length, leaning her neck forward and taking more of him until he was running into the back of her throat. He groaned above her, his fingers in her hair, twisting and pulling at her roots.

“Fuck…” he muttered, the curse tumbling out of somewhere deep in his chest as she pressed the tip of her tongue along the underside of his shaft and ran it down in a languorous slither. “Good girl, Tifa.”

She felt tears burn at the corners of her eyes, felt her gag reflex threaten, especially as Cloud bucked up against her compulsively, unable to stop himself from riding her throat. She moved carefully and purposefully though, eager to please him, and soon he was tugging so hard at her hair that her scalp began to smart as he came, hot and sticky and full, painting the hollow of her cheeks and the roof of her mouth.

“Goddamnit,” he swore as he slid away, still gripping her head. Tifa swallowed carefully, always happy to be filled with him, and at the sight of it, Cloud stroked her cheek affectionately.

“That was so good, baby,” he whispered, and warmed over and fully enamored, Tifa opened her eyes and looked up at him, unable to stop the wide, happy smile that spread across her face.

Cloud returned it, leaning over her then and scooping her up into his arms and lifting her from her position on the bed. Feeling herself suddenly become weightless, Tifa wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, holding him tightly as he crawled across the bed, carrying her into its center. He laid her back by the headboard, carefully arranging the pillows behind her so that her back was comfortable and she could lay back, propped up just a little.

Her wrists were still bound in front of her, and Cloud gently lifted them, raising them above her head, causing her to stretch her body out lean and long, the position making her feel even more vulnerable and needy. And with Cloud hovering over her, his quickly reviving erection pressed against her inner thigh, his eyes glowing with a dangerous, blue determination at her, his hands squeezing at the dips in her waist, she felt the desire flare like the flames of a bonfire that had been left to kindle in the wind for too long. She needed this ache to be satisfied badly, she realized. He had been teasing her with light touches all day; he had been building her anticipation since the moment she’d awoken that morning to find his note on the bed. She needed this release, and soon, before it drove her mad.

It didn’t appear that he was ready to cease his teasing, though. He was crouched comfortably above her now, the press of his warm, lean naked body against hers sending a current of violent electricity through her veins. He was toying now with the ribbon that held the lace-up front of the corset of her teddy.

“How do I get this off?” he asked, his voice far too mirthful.

Tifa sat up a little. “You can just unzip the back, Love,” she offered.

He smirked, dropping his fingers from the lace and curving his arms around her back, the tips of his fingers dancing over her shoulders as he moved, sending dangerous shivers through her again. Carefully, he pulled the zipper down, his movements far too slow, her breath catching against her ribs as she waited. 

Once the zipper was down, his fingers tugged at the crimson straps that were digging into her shoulders, carefully sliding them over her skin. In an effort to assist, wanting badly to be free from the stifling confines of corseted lace, Tifa leaned back on her hands, lifting her hips so that he could peel the fabric away from her body like the skin of a fruit, sliding it down her legs and tossing it somewhere behind him.

She was now completely bare and exposed, her skin red and flushed in bright blooms across the hills and valleys of her body, nipples stiff against the air in the room. Impatient, wanting him badly and needing to feel _something_ , Tifa spread her knees, blushing at the way the dampness slid wet across her skin, meeting the juncture of her thigh.

Cloud’s fiery blue stare was glowing, mako rim pulsing verdant flecks and fixed right on her flowery center of desire. The longer that he admired that intimate part of her, the more that the heat blistered her insides with yearning, longing for him to touch her already.

“Cloud,” she purred quietly, but he only smirked, dragging his gaze away from her spread sex, up to her eyes.

“No,” he remarked calmly, climbing toward her and taking her forearms in the grip of both hands. “You’re so needy. You need to learn how to be patient.”

She wanted to scream, especially when he shifted to sit back against the headboard, pulling her into his lap. The warm contact of their bodies pressed together instantly singed her, and Tifa leaned forward against him, her nipples craving solace against the smooth heat above his muscles. His sword-calloused hands drifted to her waist and squeezed as she straddled him, and she lowered her bound arms around the back of his head, tipping her forehead toward his so that her hair became a dark curtain that rivaled the night sky beyond their window. Greedy and anxious, she nudged his nose until he tilted his head back, and she pressed her lips against his, seeking a kiss while her hips whorled, her center dripping her need in a delicate stream against his shaft where it was nestled just so, between her folds.

He humored her hungry kisses for only a moment before swiping his tongue across her bottom lip and then pulling away, leaving her to keen in protest at that loss of sorely needed contact. He leaned casually back against the headboard, giving his head a little toss again as his arms drifted back to her forearms.

“No,” he denied again, his voice low and teasing, and before Tifa could vocalize a protest, now flooded with desire and tension, he was pulling her to lie across his lap, taking her over his knees in a position that could only mean one thing. 

A spanking.

Her face now bright red with burning realization, she held her breath as one of his rough palms settled over the tense space between her shoulders, the other gently rubbing the full flesh of her rear. She dropped her tied wrists on the bed above her head, burying her face into the soft, plush fleece spread that was laid out on top of the bed.

“You okay?” Cloud asked in a lulling tone, the vibrations of his voice echoing through his chest and abdomen and pulsing into her skin, straight to her core. Wet and desperate, longing and aching, Tifa bent one knee slightly, splitting her legs apart just a little to showcase her arousal and her need to him. Her fists scrunched the coverlet into tight bunches, and she fought back the despairing cry that threatened to tumble from her throat.

“Yes,” she whispered instead, nodding her head slowly, only to hear Cloud laugh darkly above her.

“You’re so worked up,” he whispered, the tips of three fingers drawing a line over the curve of her ass, falling less than half an inch from her exposed, wet split of flesh, causing her thighs to tremble. His hand that was on her shoulders began to knead gently, deft digits digging into soft flesh and untangling the wound muscles. “I told you that you’re too tense, that you work too hard. You need to relax, Tifa.”

His words had taken on that scolding edge again, causing the wet ache at her center to smolder and electrify, another long, slow drip of effervescent arousal running freely against the inside of her thighs. The waiting, the anticipation, the hot fear and the dread was too much, her nail beds turning white as she dug into the sheets, her teeth trapping her bottom lip between them as she felt the sudden urge to have her mouth wrapped around something and sucking.

“Close your eyes, baby girl,” Cloud whispered. “Just let go. I’ll take care of everything.”

All of the air left her lungs as his palm came down across the flesh of her bare bottom, skin connecting with skin and sending a sizzling jolt of pain across her flesh. This time, he didn’t work slowly or tantalizingly, but rather firmly and methodically, swift, open-palm slaps across both cheeks of her rear in alternating blows that had her flesh brightening red within seconds. It was a sharp contrast to the gentle, teasing nature of his behavior that entire night, and the combination sent flames into her skull, her pussy leaking a waterfall across her inner thighs.

She began to wail into the sheets, tears now stinging the corners of her eyes, a mystifying and powerful feeling falling over her and caging her tight as if she were wrapped in the arms of something supernatural. It was a heady blend of arousal and vulnerability and deep, aching need, but more importantly, it was a sensation that was heavily underpinned by absolute _trust_. Trust in Cloud, who she loved so purely and with such abandon, who she knew would never do anything to hurt her, who she forever knew would do anything in his power to make sure that she was well cared for, who hated when she worked too hard and always pleaded with her to just relax and _let go_. 

She trusted him with her life, had left it in his hands so many times over the years, and despite what he may have thought, he’d never failed her, never let her down, not once. And now, years later, she trusted him completely with her heart, and it made this ultimate surrender even sweeter, made her longing for him even more tempestuous, made the release that he was dragging away from her like like a toy at the end of cat’s string hover with even greater desperation, knowing that when he finally let her grasp it, it would rupture her apart into a million tiny sparkles of moondust. 

As that thought was fleeting her muddled, shattered brain, Cloud’s hands stopped its even patterns of smacks and rested to a stop on her hot, reddened flesh. He gently began to rub, roiling slow circles into her skin, the callouses in his palm ragged against her enflamed bottom. Her cries had died away, and she was left with breathless pants, her entire body alight and worked up into a frenzy, her chest expanding as she tried to inhale oxygen, tears staining the sheets, her nipples burning with pain as they twisted into tiny stones while she writhed wantonly against his lap.

“Tifa,” his voice was low and tenebrous, almost indecipherable, her name a gentle gust of wind against his lips. Ignited, Tifa lifted her face from where she had buried it in the sheets, realizing belatedly that she had been drooling into the blanket. Her face was wet from tears when their eyes met.

The look he gave her as he tilted his head was undeniably soft, and Tifa almost wailed again when he gathered her up into his arms, pulling her in close and cradling her to his body. His warmth and the protective cage of his arms around her instantly soothed her with a balmy heat, and she dipped her forehead into the crook of his shoulder, pressing her lips against the side of his neck in a worshipful kiss, seeking his approval and seeking relief.

She mewled, feeling his hands travel across her back and the curves of her ass, rubbing and soothing her gently as he whispered something unintelligible into her hair. He had gone back to being languorous and sweet, and it was killing her, delivering assailing thrills that filled her body with a desperate need that was now climbing with the throbbing ache he had started driving into her back on the ferry.

“Cloud, Love,” she whimpered pitifully against his neck, clutching both of his shoulders beneath the hungry grip of her fingertips, her knees pinned against his waist as she straddled him, her center slick and leaking over his shaft again which was still just teasingly out of reach. “Please, touch me. I need…”

Her begging trailed off and she realized with a fascinated sort of horror that it had cracked off into a sob.

He was breaking her.

“Almost,” he murmured softly against her earlobe, gathering her thick, chocolate brown hair into a twisted knot in his fist and pushing it away from her neck so he could kiss her pulse gently, Tifa moaning her protest. “Lay down on your tummy.”

She obeyed, dropping her face into the pillow and stretching her arms above her head as she lay across the bed, her wrists beginning to feel a slight soreness at their binds. Cloud had stepped away from the bed to retrieve something, returning to kneel over her body behind her, his weight settling against the backs of her thighs.

“I’m gonna take care of you, sweetheart,” his voice was low and gravely again, stoking the flames that lived beneath the waterfall between her thighs. “I promise.”

He leaned forward over her body, his chest warm against her back, and he pressed a kiss to her cheek as he untied the red silk from her wrists. He tossed it away, rubbing her wrists a bit, then sat back up, sliding her hair away from her back. She wrapped her now free arms around a pillow and squeezed it tight, holding it urgently, praying to the gods that he would finally assuage the pangs that were leaving her feeling raw and open.

She heard him pop a cap on something, and soon, he was massaging oil deep into her shoulders, running across the tired and locked up muscles of her entire back and leaving the faint scents of coconut and hibiscus drifting in the air above them. His fingers were skillful and deft, pressing deep into her tendons to unwind the damage that her cyclical and long hours of labor caused. He lowered his pressure, thumbs burrowing into her spine, and tracing a long, firm line all the way back up to the base of her neck.

He continued his careful massaging until Tifa had melted into a blended pool of willowy calm and deep-seated, needy arousal. It was further inflamed when he lowered his palms to her rear, gently rubbing and squeezing both fleshy curves and working the oil into her sore, reddened flesh, and she could only respond by heaving a sigh at the tenderness in his touch, her want growing, her right knee lifting and bending slightly to offer him a view of her slick desire, pleading against the pillow that he would finally touch her where she wanted him.

_Please_.

He rubbed her a little while longer before she felt him shift so that he was sitting beside her hip. His fingers began to flirt between her legs, brushing over the backs of her knees before bumping against her inner thighs. His knuckles danced along her skin with feathery lightness, the subdued contact inspiring chills along her spine.

“Please, daddy,” Tifa whimpered impulsively, unaware of where the needy whimper and the dangerously provocative, almost taboo sentiment came from. Just hearing the words fall from her lips flared the vulnerability and the shy excitement that was colliding into a careless, frenzied blend in her brain, and Tifa squeezed the pillow tighter and felt herself begin to weep quietly against it. 

She didn’t catch the way that Cloud smirked at her, his eyes steely midnight blue as he turned his palm in the space between her thighs, a hair’s breadth away from her slick center.

“Okay, baby,” he growled, and she tensed when she felt the pads of two rough fingers press against the very center of her core, stroking downward, drawing two opposing lines along her folds from her entrance to the apex, resting just under her clit. He swept thick droplets of her arousal along with his languid drag, and Tifa moaned out a sigh when he began working them into soothing, solacing circles over her clit.

His touch was gentle but firm, listless but intentional, smooth but achingly rough. Sensations that normally made her salivate were causing her to writhe and fight against the sheets, forlorn gasps escaping her throat, her gut twisting violently with pressure as the pleasure accelerated a vengeful storm inside of her. The low-burning flames that he had been kindling inside her all evening had erupted into a raging fire, and the more that he stroked her, allaying the throb, the more that she opened her mouth and cried.

“Cloud,” she sobbed his name into the air, fresh tears burning the corners of her eyes as she felt her belly coil tight, her first orgasm threatening to rock into her. “Please, please, _please_ don’t ever stop. It’s so good, Cloud, please. It feels so _good_.”

“I won’t,” he vowed above her, his voice low and balmy, and he increased the pressure against her bundle of hyper-aware nerves, Tifa now grinding her hips in a slow but wildly seeking gyration against his hand. “Keep going, baby. You can do this. Come for me.”

She choked out another sob, slamming her palm flat against the mattress in delightful frustration as his fingers alternated their rotations and began to stroke her swollen, twinging nub in a new direction with a new bend of pressure. She howled his name, leaning back onto him, feeling herself so, so very close, and sensing her frenzy, Cloud gripped her waist with his free hand, anchoring her to him and stilling her movements, holding her in place.

She was just about to greet the zenith of her passion when he suddenly stopped his rubbing, causing her brain to flare with panic, distraught over the fact that he would do this to her _again_.

“No!” she cried wildly, lifting her head from the pillow to shoot a desperate glare at him, her hair wild and tangled around her face, her cheeks stained with tears.

“Shhhh,” he reassured her when their eyes met, and he pulled his hand away from her waist to drop his thumb against her lips, gliding right past them until they rested on the center of her tongue. And then those two fingers began to tap gently at the tip of her clit, sending lightning rods of pure, white pleasure dazzling through her entire body, up from her center to her belly and the peaks of her breasts, flaring her brain and finally the roots of her hair as she was carelessly thrown over into the abyss, singing his name in one long melody like it was a hymn of salvation.

He kept the pressure firm against her wet flesh and let her suck on his thumb as she struggled through it, the elation of her climax wiping out all of her senses and leaving her gushing and feeling like she was made of nothing and everything at once. Slowly, she began to descend, the pleasure winding its way through her and then evaporating in waves, leaving her coming down from the high in shudders and tremors, her cries and wails dying down into breathy gasps and hiccups. Eventually, she quieted, her chest expanding as she inhaled.

Still laying on her belly, Cloud was climbing over her, kneeling between her knees and leaning over to press kisses to the corner of her mouth until she turned her face more as he was able to capture her mouth fully. His golden hair fell in wispy spikes when he pitched forward, gently tickling her forehead.

“You did such a good job, princess,” he whispered the praise right along her jaw, sending a new tingle up her spine, making her want to please him all over again. “But we’re not finished yet.”

He pulled away from her, producing a whine from her throat, but she felt him holding her waist, just as he began to glide the tip of his erection across the wet seam of her folds.

Sighing, eager to be filled, Tifa spread her legs a little further and bent her calves back, feeling him slide with ease into her wet, ready passage, falling into a slow and steady rhythm that had him seamlessly rocking up against her most sensitive spot with every thrust. He laid over her back, brushing her messy hair out of the way so he could gently nip at the side of her throat and the underside of her earlobe, laving her skin with drenched kisses, mumbling more sweet praises and hums of affection into her ear that her brain was too disordered to follow. His strokes became fluid and long, and he held himself up on his palms above her, increasing the speed of his hips’ grind against her bottom just a little. She arched her back and held the pillow close, new mewls and whimpers of his name bubbling out of her throat.

“Oh, Cloud,” she gushed. “Yes, right there, please, oh… Cloud…”

Her cries seemed to spur him on, because he picked up the pace until it became almost unbearable, and she began to weep again when he started to fuck her in earnest, chanting her name back at her in an exchange of grunts. The kindle of pleasure he had built inside of her with his listless stroking now turned into an exchange of rocket-fire, her insides curling so vividly it felt as if her cervix was wrapped tight in a fist. 

The pulsating ache he’d earlier relieved had calmed a feral, carnal desire deep in her flesh, but these deep, piercing strokes that stretched her so magnificently and reached so far inside, her walls clenching him as if afraid he might slip away, were soothing her very soul.

“Tifa…” he breathed a warning into her ear as he continued to slam into her, and she gasped in response, feeling her insides begin to unravel in tandem with the shockwaves of pleasure that were radiating across her entire sex.

“I’m so close, Cloud,” she moaned. “Please, baby…”

“You gonna be a good girl for the rest of the weekend?” he growled, slowing down just enough to rotate his hips and then give her a violent thrust.

“Yes, baby,” she breathed, desperate for him to not stop, so close now to the edge.

“Promise me.” He slid one hand under her body to cup her sex, palm resting rough against her clit as he continued to pound.

“I promise,” Tifa cried, feeling the break in reality occur right at the line below her hips, her lower abdomen tensed and seized, her back arched and her toes curling so tightly her feet ached. The wave of pleasure crashed through her and ignited every nerve ending with a brightness that was almost blinding, leaving her feeling dazed, almost completely unaware that Cloud had rutted himself into her to his own completion and was filling her with his heat.

“Good girl,” he whispered, but Tifa only sobbed, feeling the climax gently unravel itself from her brain, watching the stars subside from her eyes, hearing her breathing slowly level out.

Cloud was leaning over her with his forehead tipped into her shoulder, grunting curses along her flesh. Delirious and seeking comfort after her release, her brain flooded with endorphins, Tifa tried to shift under his weight.

“Cloud, please,” she purred, her voice now raspy from all of her shouting. “I want to see you.”

He expelled a breath, then kissed her shoulder before rolling off of her to his side. As soon as his weight was gone, she shifted so that she could fit herself in the hollow of his chest, and he wrapped his arm around her, holding her tight.

“Fuck, Tifa,” he sighed, giving her an amorous squeeze, and Tifa, feeling almost incoherently in love with him, looked up at his face so that their eyes met, the green glow in his faded so that they were almost full a deep, royal blue. “That was amazing. I love you.”

He nuzzled his nose against hers and then kissed her softly, and Tifa wrapped her arm around his waist and tossed a leg over his hip, anchoring herself to him.

“I love you too, Cloud,” she professed, her voice shaking. She glanced above the bed at a sparkle of white that caught her eye, realizing that it had begun snowing outside. Smiling warmly, she closed her eyes, lowering her face against his collarbone. “So, so much.”

He pulled the covers tight around them, tucking her in as he cradled and cuddled her close, feeding off of their collective warmth.

“Go to sleep, Tifa,” he whispered a gentle command in her ear. “The weekend’s only just started.”

But Tifa was already asleep, the mutual exchanges of their love for each other and the deep attachment that fused them into one, a lullaby that had already carried her under.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> Feel free to follow me on twitter @nitezintodreamz 💜💫💋


	4. Build Our Own World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy I finally updated this ridiculous project. I hope you like this update. And I hope you didn't come here looking for any plot.
> 
> Thank you to spaceodementia for not only beta'ing but for also making sure I don't feel like a total crazy person for my writing.
> 
> Also shout outs to my homegirls iaintyourbro and passtheprosecco (why is that still the best username in the history of the world?), for listening to my endless whining when I write this shit. Y'all are the BEST.
> 
> The title of this chapter comes from something I vaguely remember from the film _Inception_ , you can probably ignore it because my brain hasn't been functioning properly since before the holidays.
> 
> Enjoy!

Chapter Four

Build Our Own World

* * *

Tifa was still lost in sleep, feeling herself fall in and out of a hazy dreamworld, alternating patterns of bright colors fading and filtering through her vision. She saw the stars high above her, brilliant swaths of white against a dark blue sky, a menacing red stain hovering over the entire landscape. Somewhere behind her, she could hear the distant roar of an engine, the whorl of mechanical propellers spinning into the air.

She could feel the dewy grass under her back, tickling her exposed skin and prickling her already over-sensitive flesh. But her body was coated in pleasure, feeling another spike of it race towards her brain as Cloud drifted his fingers through her folds, dipping his head down to press a kiss to her jaw.

“Cloud…”

She opened her eyes to look up at him, but she realized she was no longer staring at the night sky, was no longer under the Highwind but was in a plush hotel room, sunlight streaming from above, and the Cloud who was looking down on her was slightly older than the one in her dream. Smiling her way through the fog, she blinked and leaned up a little toward him.

“Morning, Teef,” he greeted her, nuzzling her nose with his before his lips greeted hers for a kiss. As she climbed her way out of sleep, she felt his fingers grazing lazy dips and trails between her thighs, not searching with any particular sense of purpose. Feeling their curl against the soft flesh of her inner thighs, Tifa stretched beside him and tossed one leg over his hips, cuddling into his chest to encourage him.

“Good morning,” she greeted back, her voice drifting out of her on a sigh. Even though they were only a few short miles from the coldest point on the Planet, Tifa could feel nothing but pure warmth seeping into her bones from the heavy fleece bedding and the protective shell of Cloud’s body around hers. “Did you sleep well?”

“How could I not?” his question was a rumble in her ear, dark and low, his breath skirting hot across her ear and over the high point of her throat. She smiled when he pressed his lips to that tender spot of flesh there, his kiss feather-light and sending tingles throughout her nerves that roused her just a little bit more from her sleep. “After last night, and sleeping with you at my side…”

He trailed off, turning his kisses into lazy, indirect presses that trailed down her throat, and Tifa kept her eyes closed, feeling them sink deeper toward her collar bone. His fingers continued their slow dance between her knees, twirling without any pressure or determination, purposefully avoiding her wet split of flesh that was presently becoming wetter and hotter with arousal the more he continued to gently and sensually stir her from a state of slumber.

“Mmm, Cloud,” she moaned, finally opening her eyes fully, the sunlight above the bed muted by the heavy curtains that were pulled closed above them. Still, the room was awash with gentle streamers of daylight, and as he kissed her lower, her breasts beginning to feel achy as her nipples hardened, Tifa stretched one arm above her head and spread her legs a little to spur him on.

“Mmm, Tifa,” he responded in tandem, lifting his mouth from where he was now sucking into the hollow of flesh above her clavicle. “Are you ready for today?”

“I’m ready for you, Love,” Tifa responded, feeling her heartbeat rise a little at his sensual tone, suddenly realizing how he was already setting her alight.

Cloud lifted up on one elbow, pulling his teasing licks and sucks away from her skin so that he could look down at her face, her hair a dark, inky spill around her shoulders, sliding across the pillows. He was admiring her, half of his mouth turned up into a dark, lazy smile in one corner, his blue eyes scanning her face and reading her as if equipped with an Assess materia. She let him drink her in, trying not to tremble under his appraising gaze, realizing that it always sent flares to the tips of her nerves when he looked at her this way, no matter how many times he had done it or how long they had been together.

“Good,” he finally whispered, dipping his chin so that he could press a kiss to the corner of her lips. As he did so, his hand that had been flirting between her legs began a slow rise upwards, straight between her center, two fingers gliding purposelessly between her folds and over her clit, sending a brief but charged spark across her nerves before they were tiptoeing across her lower belly. The sensation awakened something needy and dormant in her, and she lifted her hips encouragingly, but he was only raising that hand higher.

“Cloud,” she whined, but he was grinning at her sloppily, that hand now floating between her breasts and over her sternum before it finally came to rest at her howling moon chain, where it toyed with the delicate silver cord, running his fingers along its edge.

“We have a big day today, Tifa,” he whispered to her, and by now Tifa was fully awake, her body charged with desire, her knees forcing themselves apart and her hips seeking, even though it was fully apparent that he had moved on. “We should get ready and get going.”

“But Cloud,” she protested, and his hand dropped the chain and wrapped itself around her throat, his grip firm but gentle, tight but warm, warning but reassuring.

“I don’t want to have to tell you anything more than once today, Tifa.”

His voice was stern and had dropped into a low, rumbly edge, the sweetness of his morning greeting gone. He was staring into her eyes, his deep cerulean pools fully awake and transposing the seriousness of his warning on her, the rim of green around his pupils a gentle swirl. The intensity that he watched her with sent a wash of heat over her, and despite how warm it made her feel, her entire body gave an involuntary shiver beneath him. She swallowed deeply, feeling the press of his fingers against her throat, before she nodded slowly in surrender.

“Yes, Love,” she whispered, trying to ignore the wetness that grew between her legs, shutting her knees to dull the ache. At her whimper of acquiesce, Cloud lowered his hand from its hold, his eyes losing a little bit of their wildness as he softened and then bent down to give her lips a gentle kiss.

“Good girl,” he whispered. “Let’s get up and get dressed.”

* * *

It was sometime during breakfast that Tifa began to realize, with a fair degree of horror, exactly what Cloud was planning for them for the day.

Early that morning, as they were supposed to be spending their time getting ready, soon turned out to be completely torturous. After he had gently teased her out of her sleep, Tifa had been left with a deep ache that was warm over her most intimate parts, and she had been waiting for him to take the opportunity to alleviate it. There had been plenty of times in the past when he’d woken her to the sweeping touch of his fingers or the sweet press of his mouth, but never had he left her hanging like this before. So when they rose from bed, both still naked and Tifa’s body colored with red and purple marks from the night before, she couldn’t stop herself from grinning when he pulled her into the bathroom so that they could shower together for the day.

It was under that hot spray of water that Tifa realized that Cloud was going to string her along for as long as he possibly could.

She didn’t know what was worse - the sharp ferocity of his eyes as he watched her steadily climb into the tub, or the way that his hands fell skillfully to her waist as he dipped her under the stream. She felt the water fall over her in a thick rush, the steam circling them both and easing into her skin, soothing the welts and the bites he’d left all across the expanse of her body. When he stepped in after her, he held her under the water, letting her quickly become fully drenched, her hair soon soaked and falling in wet, dark clumps all around her body, sticking to her back and her shoulders and her arms.

He stepped closer to her, taking her face in his hands, running his thumbs across her cheeks as he stared down at her. He was only a mere inch or two taller than she was, and it always brought them so intimately close to one another whenever they were standing face to face like this, his chin just about level with her nose so that he could tip her head back gently as he held her and looked into her eyes. For some reason, ever since that morning, the sapphire in his eyes seemed to be lit aflame by hidden embers, and Tifa found that she couldn’t look away from him, further fires kindling deep in her belly and being set to roar across the space between her thighs, even as she lifted a hand to grip his wrist as he cupped her cheeks.

The situation was not improved when Cloud insisted on washing her clean. They had all the time in the world, he told her - breakfast would be served for another two hours - and he was meticulous in his ministrations as he began to drape the bathing sponge, sudsy with her cherry-blossom scented soap, over her skin. They’d washed each other plenty of times before, but today, for whatever reason, his hands worked with far greater slowness, traveling over each pale expanse of her skin with a delicate lightness that sent lightning bolts through her veins. The sponge was soft, but his fingertips were a firm press against her skin, and when he turned her around with her back to his chest, the water now flowing toward them both, she couldn’t stop herself from rocking back against him, her hips whirling as the back of her body found every firm, smooth, hard line on the front of his.

He was not very relenting, though. Cloud palmed one breast gently while he washed the other, squeezing her doughy flesh so softly, letting his thumbs brush and circle her nipple until it was stiff and her pussy was slick again. When he swapped the sponge between hands, alternating now so that he began to thumb and tweak the opposite nipple, she felt the familiar ache in her clit begin to grow, only this time, it was heightened, still unfulfilled from how he’d roused her from sleep that morning.

Tifa had no choice but to writhe against him to signal her need, pressing her bottom against his erection, feeling his stiffness, and just knowing he would take her right under this hot water to allay the throb they were surely both feeling. She closed her eyes and inhaled the hot steam when his hands lowered across her belly, and she held her breath as she carefully washed between her thighs, his deft fingers floating between her folds and squeezing suds into the carefully cropped patch of curls on her mound before he was working the sponge and the soap over the rest of her, leaving her trembling as she leaned back for more, waiting.

It never came.

Somehow, soon, they were both rinsed clean and Cloud was shutting off the water and pulling open the glass, reaching for thick, plush towels to wrap around them both. She could see the deep rim of mako blazing around his pupils when he flashed her a smirk, and he turned away from her, shielding his hardness as he wrapped his towel around his midsection and vacated the bathroom with a brief instruction for her to dress warmly for the day because they were going to the slopes.

She realized then that he was taking advantage of his enhancements to keep himself under control; she could see it in the warring colors of azure and viridian in his eyes that pulsed like the world’s magic. She watched the defined muscles of his back and shoulders twitch and pull as his fingers ran through his hair on his way out, and Tifa felt the ache  _ deep _ then. 

At that moment, she felt somewhat confident that she might be able to suppress it. But then she’d followed him out of the bathroom and dried herself, and before she got dressed, Cloud, who had already pulled on his pants, stopped her and forced her to sit on the edge of the bed. And then he was working her up into a new frenzy when he insisted on lotioning her skin before she dressed for the day.

Tifa wasn’t sure that she could stand it once he’d gotten started. He squeezed small bits of lotion into his hands at a time, warming it between his palms before running the swaths smooth against her skin. Kneeling in front of her, he started with her feet, working his way up her legs, rubbing the cream into her calves and squeezing the firm, toned muscles there. Tifa could feel him working away the stiff exhaustion that was brought on by hours of standing and walking and all of her constant, daily labor, and she found herself leaning back on her hands on the bed, tipping her head back so that her damp locks skirted across her knuckles.

Cloud moved his way further and further up her legs, soon at her thighs, where she could see the bruises from his squeezing and pressing the night before. As his hands wound the lotion into her pores, his fingers drew up closer and closer towards her inner thighs, and Tifa found herself spreading her thighs apart and smiling up at the ceiling as she realized they were drawing shapes up and up and  _ up _ toward her slick need.

But he skipped past her sensitive, empty center, seating himself on the bed beside her and instead focusing next on her arms, laving the thick cream down her shoulders to her wrists, his hands turning one over the other as his palms gently worked out the lingering soreness in her muscles and left her skin feeling as lush as velvet. He swept his hands over her breasts, massaging the lotion into her curved peaks, Tifa arching her back and trying to get him to fondle her nipples. But instead, she heard his dark chuckle escape the back of his throat, and then he positioned himself behind her, giving her back the same consideration, but the desperate pulse between her thighs was so distracting that Tifa had a difficult time concentrating on the way that his careful fingers unwound the tension in her muscles.

She felt herself leaning towards him, ready to fall into his shoulder, her hand drifting up to catch a hint of his skin, but Cloud was pushing himself to his feet from the bed.

“Come on, princess. Get dressed so we don’t miss breakfast.”

And that was how she came to be at the present moment, sitting across from Cloud in The Lodge’s dining room, her body still alight with arousal and stewing in its warmth from his light touches all morning. They were quietly eating breakfast in a booth near the window, and Tifa was staring out at the expanse of white mountains beyond, at the pretty gold and bronze lanterns, and at the piles of snow that had been shoveled away from the walkways and lined on the roads on either side, trying to distract herself from the worked-up heat in her body.

“You ready to go snowboarding?” Cloud asked her after he swallowed back a sip of coffee. “We haven’t been in a long time. I wonder if I still even remember how to do it.”

Tifa tore her eyes away from the window and stared at him, blinking, trying to concentrate on his words. When was the last time she had been snowboarding? She couldn’t remember, it had been so long. It wasn’t often that they took vacations like this and spent any time doing things like this for fun. In fact, she thought that the last time they had done something like this up north might have been when they were still pursuing Sephiroth.

That thought was enough to tamp down the craving ache that he’d inspired in her that morning, and she took a few more bites of her eggs, lifting her cup of coffee to swallow it down before she glanced back up at him.

“It has been a while,” she finally agreed. “I’m sure we’ll pick it right up again, Cloud. You especially. You were always pretty good at it.”

He smiled at her, and the warmth behind it set off the flares again, and Tifa found herself turning away from him, trying to ignore him and dull the tingling pain that was rising inside of her.

When they finished breakfast, they zipped up their coats and made their way out of the chalet, riding the tram together across the cliff faces towards ski lifts on the opposite side of the mountain. Tifa had chosen to dress in a pair of thick, tight wool leggings with a layer of over-the-knee knit legwarmers over them, and a long, dark blue turtleneck sweater that extended past her hips. To block out the frigid cold, she pulled on her gloves and a pair of headband earmuffs, pulling her hair through to keep her neck and ears warm.

The entire time they traveled toward the lifts, Cloud kept Tifa close to him with his arm tight around her waist as they traveled the trams. The chill in the air turned her cheeks a bright, rosy pink, and even Cloud’s skin was beginning to become affected by the harshness of the weather as they made their way, the mid-morning sun now high in the sky and bouncing off of the harsh, snow-capped plains and hills that surrounded them. They were wearing enough layers to keep them sufficiently warm through the sting of the cold, but Tifa was still feeling a different type of sting, one that was hot between her thighs and difficult to ignore.

When they reached the station, they were ushered into a waiting ski lift by an attendant. They were gondola style lifts, encased fully in glass and steel, hanging from heavy cables that stretched between the mountains across the terrain. Tifa slipped in first, finding a seat on the bench, rubbing her hands together, still feeling the cold travel through her. Cloud climbed in next and wrapped an arm around her waist, just as the attendant slammed the door to the lift shut and they began to ascend into the air.

As soon as he folded her against him again, Tifa felt his subtle warmth through the layers of their gear, and the deep sense of longing began to ignite inside of her again. But it was much more than a desire to be satiated, to have that low ache calmed so she didn’t feel the need to squirm so, her imagination running wild as she thought about their eventual, later intimacies. It was a need to be held close and to be kept warm, to be kept safe, especially as the lift rose higher and higher into the air and Tifa watched the world below disappear.

“What’s wrong?” Cloud asked her quietly when they continued the climb toward the slopes. “You cold?”

“Kind of,” Tifa answered, leaning into him, not wanting to tell him that she really didn’t care about snowboarding but that she would have preferred to stay all day under the sheets with him.

In response, Cloud widened his knees slightly on the gondola’s bench and then gently pulled on Tifa’s forearms, guiding her into his lap. She relented to the force of his movements instantly, settling over his thighs and looking down into his eyes as he tightened his hold around her. His deep blue eyes were glowing, a sparkling, light aquamarine against the crash of the sunlight that streamed in through the glass that surrounded them. Almost instantly, she felt her insides melt at the sight, and she brought her hands up to his shoulders to hold on to him.

A gloved thumb was at her cheek, brushing away a wayward lock of her long, dark hair. “Are you sure that’s all it is, Teef?” he asked her, his voice in its low rumble again, echoing through her lungs. “That you’re cold?”

Tifa shivered as if to answer, but she settled around him more closely, vicing her knees around his waist as she dug her fingers into the soft down of his jacket. “Let’s go back,” she suddenly found herself pleading, unable to take the swirls of blue and green looking up at her, unable to handle the warmth she could feel from his groin under so many layers of fabric. “I just want you.”

He smirked up at her, lowering both hands to cup her bottom, squeezing her firmly. Through her thick leggings, Tifa could feel the heat of his palms, even beyond the stiff leather of his gloves, and the fire crawled right across her inner thighs to her pussy again, reigniting the pang that crawled over her hot little clit that she had so desperately been trying to avoid.

“Please,” she pleaded when he just stared at her instead of answering.

For a brief moment, she thought that he might be relenting, about to give in and take them back to the chalet so that he could spend the rest of the day making love to her instead of flipping through the snow where they were both liable to just end up getting hurt anyway. There was something in the sudden softness of his gaze that betrayed his understanding and his desire to give her what she wanted. It was a look that he had given her so, so many times over the years, one that she recognized instantly.

But he suppressed it, and Tifa felt her heart begin to stomp in her chest when he squeezed her bottom a little more roughly, just as the lift swayed lightly with a passing gale.

“You have me,” he answered. “But you can’t get what you want all the time, Tifa. You’re spoiled. And you haven’t been listening to me lately. Remember what we talked about a couple of weeks ago?”

There was something low and tremulous in his tenor that had her knees weakening, and Tifa trembled against him, holding him even tighter as the gondola climbed, the mountains jutting up higher on either side of them. She pressed her body close to his, desperate to feel his bare chest and all of the warmth beneath his smooth skin and rippling muscles, not these thick fluffy coats that were separating them.

Besides, she had no idea what he was talking about.

“What, Love?” she asked him in a husky, coy tone, curling her face close to his jaw, nuzzling her nose against his pale, cool skin.

He chuckled, but it was barely audible; she could only detect it by the slight shake of his body under hers. His hands slid up, traveling beneath her coat and her sweater, the cool leather of his gloves finding her skin and sending shivers all the way up to her shoulders. The sensation was abrupt and a stark difference from the longing heat that continued to build inside of her, and the combination had her feeling as if something was about to burst dangerously apart inside of her.

“I told you,” he whispered right beside her ear, catching her earring in his breath, “To hire someone to help you out around the bar. Or to at least work fewer hours. Take more breaks. You’ve been working too hard, and I don’t like it. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Love,” she whimpered against his shoulder.

“Look at me, Teef,” he said to her next.

She pulled back, leaning up to look into his eyes, finding them bright, his pupils wide. The intensity left her feeling as if she had fallen into the ocean, or maybe into the center of the stars, and uncontrollably, she squeezed his shoulders again.

“What did you promise me last night?”

Tifa soon began to blush, knowing exactly what he was talking about, but too timid to speak the words out of her own mouth. For so, so long she had wanted him to exercise this kind of calm control over her, to break out of his shell and maybe help her break her out of her own, to use the power and the strength she long knew him to be in possession of to take over her body and splinter her apart however he liked. But the way that he was growing to use his words - to encourage her to use hers - was so far beyond anything they had ever been accustomed to; it was the most daring part of everything they suddenly found themselves now indulging in together.

And it thrilled her in ways she now realized she couldn’t live without.

“I…” she trailed off, biting her bottom lip as she looked down at his lips, and she saw them turn up in a small smile before Cloud leaned forward and gave hers a gentle kiss, pulling her lip away from her teeth so that he could suck them between his own.

“Hmm? What did you promise, baby? Talk to me,” he encouraged her, his words a light whisper, this time just below her jaw as his lips sought a trail down to her throat, gloved fingertips tugging her turtleneck aside and brushing against her skin and her silver moon chain that held so many vows between them.

Tifa had suddenly forgotten that they were suspended hundreds of feet above the snowy ground, out in the open in weather that hovered between the low twenties and the high teens. All she could feel was the sudden fire that Cloud’s mouth ignited across her skin, the way her belly pooled with heat, and the way that her legs began to spread over his lap as her clit began to throb and she felt her insides begin to dampen and drip.

He paused his trail of kisses when his mouth fell against her pulse point, and Tifa could feel that artery beat the rhythm of her heart against the soft press of his lips there. He stayed there, and Tifa nearly gasped, knowing he would not move until she spoke.

“I promised to be a good girl, Cloud,” she gasped, her fingers now digging into his coat, and he laughed lightly again, the reverberations of the sound sending shockwaves over her skin and down her entire body until they crashed between her legs, causing her to shudder, especially as his hands fell to her waist and squeezed her hard.

“That’s right, Teef,” he whispered, moving his mouth again, kissing the base of her throat, sucking gently and leaving tiny nips as she tossed her head back. “You need to show me that you can be a good girl today, baby. If you are, I promise I’ll take care of you when we get back to the hotel tonight. I promise I’ll make you come so many times you won’t remember your own name. You won’t even be able to speak when I’m done with you.”

He kissed the base of her throat for emphasis, and Tifa whimpered, her hips beginning to turn over his, seeking just a little bit of pressure to allay the dull throb that was heightening again into a bright sting. 

“I will be,” she cried as his lips traveled across her skin, nudging her turtleneck out of the way. “I promise, Cloud. Please - “ 

He lifted his mouth then to hers, rewarding her with a long, passionate kiss, his tongue in her mouth and lining her teeth, curling against hers with a desperate twist. She pressed her hips hard against his, for a moment feeling the subtle brush of his erection against her inner thigh. But Cloud was soon dragging his hands away from her waist and using them to pull her upright, and Tifa almost cried when she realized he was standing her in front of him and rising to his own feet, their lift having arrived at the slopes.

“Come on,” Cloud told her, taking her hand as he smoothed out his coat after she crumbled it in her rough grip. “We’re here.”

* * *

Despite the desperate state of arousal Cloud had left her in after their sensual whispers and the light, teasing movements of his mouth and tongue and hands on her on the gondola, Tifa found that she actually  _ did _ have a lot of fun snowboarding with him that afternoon. Both athletic, it had been a long time since they had done something so physically challenging together that did not involve children and wasn’t as mundane as training against a track or a leather punching sack. They boarded down the mountains and even attempted the more challenging courses, laughing against one another every time they crashed into the snow or into one of the obstacles along the paths they boarded over. 

They stayed on the slopes until late in the afternoon when the sun began to darken and the slopes were being shut down for the evening. By now, Tifa’s hands were numbing in her gloves and her cheeks were stinging with red pain from the wind, but she ignored the discomfort, finally feeling a happiness and a playful freedom with her best friend that she had not felt in a long, long time.

She managed to not think too much about Cloud’s teasing words or his mouth and hands all over her as they rode the gondola back down to the chalet, instead leaning into his firm grip around her shoulders as they teased one another over their performance on the slopes.

“Oh, please,” Tifa laughed, her cheeks the color of cherries and matching her eyes as she tipped her head back in joy. Beyond the glass, the sky was turning a dark, crystallized shade of purple, bright white stars beginning to pour a glowing luminescence over the horizon like glittering dust. “I think I was wrong. You were pretty bad seven years ago, Cloud, but now, you’re really bad. I saw the way that you ran into the divider on that third slope.”

Cloud chuckled, but he leaned in suddenly and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “That’s kind of mean, Tifa,” he scolded her, the tone of his voice suddenly shifting from frolicsome to serious. “Good girls are  _ nice _ girls.”

Tifa felt her cheeks brighten, and suddenly the familiar ache and the blossoming heat was flushing her again, reawakening the dormant longing that had been ebbing and flowing inside of her since he’d woken her that morning. He was smirking as he stared at her, but the mako in his eyes was swirling, and the intensity had her suddenly tearing her eyes away and looking down at where his hand had come to grip her wrist.

“S-sorry, Love,” she whispered sweetly, turning her voice low but leaving it with a lilt that she knew always melted him. “I was only kidding.”

“Hmm,” he hummed, now nuzzling his nose against her ear and into her hair. “I don’t know, Tifa. You were doing so good, baby girl. Now I’m rethinking all the ways I was going to make you come tonight.”

“Sorry,” she whined again, her hands now coming up to find his hair, stroking through the soft, yellow tufts at the back of his neck, and he wrapped his arms around her, giving her a tight squeeze that chased the chills away from her body. “I promise to be good.”

He didn’t answer, instead bringing up a hand to curl his fingers into her turtleneck, pulling the hem down, the leather grazing her skin as he exposed it to his mouth again, thumbing deliberately over the chain she wore. He kissed and licked and nibbled her into a frenzy, whispering unintelligible promises into her flesh until the lift reached the ground again.

All it did was send the infernos inside of her into a new rise again, stoking the flames to a fever pitch after she’d thought they’d finally been quieted following their hours together on the slopes. Now, though, he’d brought his teasing to a new level, and it was made worse when they returned to the chalet and she realized he was now avoiding or refusing to touch her, instead hovering behind her or to the side, admonishing her with the heaviness of his blue stare, now darkened to midnight. She could see the lust flooding through his eyes, hinting at his intentions for the rest of the night, the mako-enriched border around his pupils pulsing gently as he worked to control himself.

It was early evening when they returned to the hotel, and as soon as the door was closed behind them and Tifa had shed her coat, Cloud pulled his own away and was crowding her against the wall beside the television, grabbing her by the wrists and holding both hands above her head. Tifa felt a wild tremor run loose through her body, her heart the stampede of horses against her ribcage. The heat fluttered across her entire center, engulfing her belly and stiffening her nipples, the low-lying twinge that had been punishing her clit with a lack of stimulation all day suddenly alive again as he stared down at her. 

He pressed his body against hers, letting her become completely consumed by the heat that was trapped beneath his sweater and his skin. His eyes were low-lidded, traveling her face and drinking her in as if he were learning the contours and details of her features for the first time. Impulsively, she licked her lips as she stared back up at him, and he squeezed his grip around her wrists almost painfully, causing her eyes to widen.

“Listen to me, Tifa,” he was growling, and she realized he was having difficulty keeping the gravel out of his voice, that he was straining to keep from losing control. “This is how the rest of the night is going to go. You need to listen to me very carefully, sweetheart, or you’re going to go to be very, very sorry tonight.”

“Okay, Love,” she whispered obediently, her voice tiny and timid, barely audible over the sound of her heartbeat. “I’m listening.”

He studied her face for a long moment, as if trying to gauge if she were taking him seriously, before his free hand came up to gently stroke her cheek, tracing a line down to her lips so that his thumb could gently slide between them, prodding them slightly open. She realized then that he had shed his gloves, and the pad of his thumb was rough and hot. She felt herself leak, imagining that thumb on another part of her. 

“We’re going to dinner,” he finally spoke, his voice now barely above a whisper, decibels lower and strumming a chord deep in the pit of her belly. “I want you to put on something nice - whatever you want, Tifa, as long as you feel sexy in it.”

“Okay,” she responded around his thumb, pressing her hips against his, now desperately eager to please him.

“You need to be quiet, though,” he told her. “For the rest of the night. You’re only allowed to speak when I give you permission. If you’re good, I’ll take you to the hot springs after dinner, and I’ll make you scream. Do you understand?”

Tifa swallowed carefully, feeling her insides burn, especially when Cloud tightened his grip around her wrists so roughly that she could feel the blood leak away from her veins, her skin and her fingers growing numb from the pressure. It made her slightly dizzy, and she felt like she might be drowning in him.

She stared up at him as he eased off a little bit again, finding the same intensity in his eyes but realizing that he was searching hers. He was testing her, pushing just a little bit more to see how much she could take, how far she was willing to go. She blinked, then lowered her eyes, letting them fall over the firm expanse of his body against hers - his firm, well-sculpted chest, defined against his sweater, his waist narrow and leading to his graceful, battle-hardened lower-half. 

They were both fighters, had been for as long as she could remember. While their fondness for one another had been seeded as children, their passions had blossomed under the glow of mako lamps as they fought side by side, had grown into wild fury across the continents as they partnered in battle. Tifa knew she could handle Cloud Strife. 

She had always been able to handle him. 

The lust inside of her was now volcanic, threatening eruption, and she realized she wanted him to take her as far as he wanted to go. So she looked back up at him through her lashes, flashing him a dark, dangerous smile, before she nodded.

“Yes, daddy,” she purred coyly, his thumb mumbling her words as it crept deeper into her mouth. “I understand.”

She saw the distinct pulse and flare in his eyes then, knowing that he was struggling and likely on the verge of falling apart. Her words were as likely to be his undoing as his were hers, and despite the fact that she had given him all of the control, the knowledge of the power he possessed made the torrential and hot thrills that lived inside of Tifa sit on the edge of flames, ready to send her over.

He closed his eyes for a moment as if to gather himself, and when he reopened them, she noticed again how the green in his eyes was bright, evidence of the effort he was putting himself through to remain in one piece. He nodded, backing away from her a little so she could breathe and ease away from the way he was making her feel.

“Good,” he finally said, releasing her wrists and sliding his thumb away from where it had come to rest against the center of her tongue. “Quiet time starts now.”

* * *

The little power that Tifa had thought she was in possession of when he stepped away from her and that wall dissipated soon after. They were sweaty under their layers of clothing from snowboarding, and so they showered again, together, Cloud insisting he wanted to make sure that Tifa did not try to touch herself while she was alone under the stream. Only this time, he refused to touch her while they cleansed themselves under the cascade, standing inches away from her and watching her intently as he lathered his own skin clean. Every time Tifa tried to reach out to touch him, he backed away and chastised her, warning her to behave, or  _ else _ .

And the entire time, she kept her mouth shut, not daring to verbally protest no matter how badly she wanted to.

When they got out of the shower, Tifa chose to dress in a violet body-con dress with a halter neckline, matching it with a pair of silver stilettos. She’d picked up the dress when shopping with Yuffie; it had reminded her of a dress that she had worn a long, long time ago, a dress that she had originally chosen for her first date with Cloud but had ended up wearing on a reconnaissance mission inside of a brothel.

Inwardly, she laughed darkly to herself at the memory, as sad as it was, staring at her reflection in the mirror, running her brush through her hair. She was swiping gloss across her lips when Cloud came up behind her, weaving the remaining buttons closed on a shirt he wore with black slacks, before dropping his hands on her shoulders, touching her for the first time since he’d pushed her against the wall and setting fire to her bare skin.

“You look beautiful in that color, Tifa,” he whispered into her hair, causing her to blush. She opened her mouth to reply, but remembered herself, and she looked away from where his weighted blue stare was catching hers in the mirror, feeling herself already ruining her brand new panties.

Things did not get any easier when they went down to dinner. Tonight, they sat in the dining room, and Cloud requested a circular booth near the back of the room in a dim corner, close to a window that faced the quiet village roads of Icicle Inn further down below the mountain where the chalet was buried into the rock. Tifa wasn’t sure why he had chosen this arrangement, until she realized that he wanted to sit right next to her and not across from her, pressing his body close to hers as they waited for their whiskey, his left arm around her waist while his right hand snaked between her thighs and forced them open under the dark obscurity of their table, running along the soft flesh there, scratching her lightly with his neatly trimmed fingernails, pinching her skin between his thumb and forefinger. Tifa gripped her menu tightly in hand, trying to keep from succumbing to his teasing and making a sound that betrayed how badly she wanted him. Her vision crossed and blurred as she tried to choose a meal, her pussy clenching and leaking the higher that his hand drifted before he retreated without ever coming anywhere close enough to her sore center.

He finally allowed her to speak when the waitress came around to take their order, and with a shaking voice, she ordered a salmon and rice dish. But as soon as the waitress was gone, he was leaning into her again, one hand stroking the back of her neck, just below her hairline, the other drawing circles into her outer thigh beneath the hem of her dress.

“Don’t say another word,” he whispered against her throat this time, ducking his lips shamelessly below her chin, ignoring the fact that they were in public and he was now practically necking her. “You’re doing so good, Teef. Keep being good and I’ll make you come as many times as your sweet little pussy can take.”

She resisted the urge to whimper, reaching for her glass of ice water and quickly swallowing back several large gulps.

Mercifully, when their food arrived, Cloud was distracted enough to cease his teasing, and Tifa slid a little bit outside of the confines of his body he’d trapped her into now that he was no longer holding her close to him. She exhaled, pressing her thighs together almost violently to temporarily kill the now painful sting that was riding along her clit and deep inside of her, taking an almost too healthy sip of her whiskey before she carefully dug into her meal.

When they finished eating, Tifa focused on finishing her drink while Cloud sat back and openly admired her with the sapphires in his eyes sparkling as they waited for their check to arrive. She realized now that he was no longer trying to tease and work her up with his words or his hands, but now with just the heaviness of his stare, and she decided this was probably worse than his other methods, causing her cheeks to flush and her breasts to ache and her clit to badly, badly need his attention.

When they walked back through the winding rock tunnels of the chalet, Cloud held Tifa’s hand. It was the simplest yet most affectionate gesture he’d shared with her since they’d arrived in Icicle Inn for this getaway, and at the feel of his rough palm wrapped around hers, Tifa looked up at him and found him smiling at her. The wild, bloodthirsty looks of lust he’d been tossing at her all weekend were gone from that stare, instead, he wore a look of pure admiration and affection and love, a look that she had first seen on his face when they had come up for air among the verdant bubbles of the Lifestream all those years ago.

When they returned to their room, Tifa stood in the center of it, kicking out of her heels and letting her feet sink into the plush carpet, her toes stretching. Cloud quietly closed and locked the door behind them, then stepped out of his boots, leaving them by the door before he crossed over and stood in front of her.

He came so close, so suddenly, that Tifa’s heart instantly began to ricochet again, loud and tumultuous in her ears. Cloud offered her a smirk, but it was soft, even though his eyes were beginning to glow and the colors were swirling as the energy in his body started to stack with desire. He brought up both hands to the back of her neck, sweeping the silk of her hair out of the way of her face and neck, his fingers warm on her skin as he held her tightly, his thumbs dancing across the underside of her jaw.

“You can speak now, Tifa,” he told her in a low, quiet voice, a roll of thunder over her flesh.

“Okay,” she breathed, her voice barely audible, and she swallowed to wet her throat. “Th-thank you, Cloud.”

He held eyes with her for a moment, and Tifa let out a tiny gasp when he lowered his thumbs and then squeezed gently, pressing into her larynx and causing stars to erupt behind her vision. A swell of dizziness erupted over her, and she rocked backward slightly, but he steadied her and lined his body up with hers so that she could lean against him.

“You were such a good girl tonight,” he praised her, and she felt the leak start again, felt the embers kindle and roar as the pulse reawakened in the button of nerves between her thighs. This time, the flare was painful and sharp, badly needing to be alleviated, and she almost stomped her feet, she was so frustrated. “I’m going to take good care of you, baby.”

She started to respond, but he was kissing her then, deep and longingly, and she was rising on her toes to meet him, her tongue eager to swirl with his. His hands were still anchored to his neck, pressing at intervals into her throat to disorient her as his mouth tortured hers with alternating bites and sucks. Her vision began to crater, and her hands were on both his biceps, pulling at the sleeves of his shirt as she rocked against him, trying not to fall to her knees from the heated excitement he was finally building inside of her.

At last, he lowered his hands from her throat and dropped one to the zipper of her dress, lowering it, while the other untied the halter straps around her neck. Tifa closed her eyes, letting him unwrap her like a gift. She wasn’t wearing a bra under the thin fabric, and when she felt it slide away into a pool at her feet, she was left standing there only in a lacy pair of black panties.

She opened her eyes to glance at him, finding his sketching lines across the canvas of her body as he absorbed her naked state, hovering over her breasts until her nipples were firm stones again, staring down her toned stomach until the muscles there clenched and rippled under her skin. She watched him as he took another step closer to her, dropping one hand to her waist while the other dipped between her inner thighs, turning his palm so that he could swipe two fingers over her hot, wet sex through her underwear, starting from the base of her slit near her entrance and running in a smooth, upward line up to her clit, pressing until she nearly yelped.

After nearly a full day of teasing touches and caresses, of seductive promises and heavy, stern warnings, of soft gazes and formidable stares, that first touch of his fingers to her most sensitive, waiting, achy parts, however shielded by fabric, was like the ignition of charcoal inside of her soul. The leaking she had been feeling all day turned torrential, and she blushed to know that Cloud could feel her dampness, knowing it in the way he stared at her with the corner of his lips turned upward.

“You’re so wet, Teef,” he told her, and she wanted to scream, to cry, to do anything just to get him to finally touch her the way she yearned for.

“Cloud,” she whispered in response, shaking her head a little, her heartbeat becoming unsteady; it was rocking so fast.

Wordlessly, he pulled her panties down then, lowering them to her ankles before tapping one gently so that she stepped out of them. 

“You ready for the hot springs?” he asked her softly when he rose to stand in front of her again, brushing her dark fringe away from her eyes. She had been growing her hair out again in recent months, and she realized it had been a while since she’d trimmed her bangs; they were beginning to hang low in her face.

She was now fully naked while he was still fully dressed, and she swallowed as he dropped his fingers to her left shoulder and let them draw a slow line down her arm until he found her wrist. There, he circled the fineness of her bones with his hand, his fingertips pressing into her palm, and for the first time, Tifa briefly wondered why he always seemed so fixated on her pulse and her veins and the very beat of her heart.

“Yes,” she finally answered him, her voice still cracked and unsure. “Should I put on my swimsuit?”

She watched in amazement as Cloud stepped back from her, tearing his shirt away, his fingers moving over the buttons but quickly becoming impatient until he was ripping it open and sending them flying. He shrugged out of the shirt, tossing it to the side, then quickly pulled his undershirt over his head with one hand, sending it to join the former.

“I don’t have time for that,” he growled at her, stepping closer again, washing her over with the scent of his aftershave that she loved so much and the deep, lingering scent of mako that was forever embedded in his flesh. He was eyeing her naked body again, but then he stepped away, finding his suitcase by the dresser and rummaging through it for a moment while she stood patiently and watched him, her heart still beating a thousand miles a second.

He returned a moment later with a solitary strip of long black silk in hand. He held it tight in one fist, and Tifa could see the strain work its way all the way up his arm, rippling his forearms and his biceps.

“Hold out your arms,” he instructed in a level, even voice, and Tifa was aware that her naked presence in front of him was sending him into savage, carnal territory, his eyes glowing with emeralds again as he tried to keep himself under control.

She offered him the shiest, tiniest of smiles, tipping her head to one side as she held her arms out obediently as he asked. Gently, he looped the silk between her wrists and bound them together with a careful knot, and Tifa watched the deft precision of his hands as he worked methodically, years of training and skill evident behind his movements. It wet her further, had her grinding her thighs together as discreetly as she could, so, so eager and ready for him.

When he was satisfied with her bindings, he looked back up at her, lifting a hand again to stroke her face. He drew lines from her brow to her cheek with his fingertips, tracing her shapes and bends, before he leaned forwards and kissed her sweetly, this time only giving her a little bit of tongue before he pulled back and ran his thumb across her bottom lip again.

“I’m not gagging or blindfolding you tonight,” he informed her, his voice crafting a destabilizing blend of stern and sweet, fingers slipping away from her mouth to drop past her jaw and to her clavicle, gently toying with her moon chain again. “I want to hear all of your cries, Tifa. I want to see your eyes light up when you come for me.”

At that, her eyes did widen and light up, Tifa finding herself at a loss for words at his bluntness, but there was no chance to respond anyway, as he was lifting her with his hands under her thighs, holding her to him so that she could wrap her legs around his waist and press her wet, aching pussy against his erection, still guarded from her by his pants. She lowered her bound wrists over his head, holding onto him tight as he offered her a reassuring smile and then carried her through the bedroom and past the glass doors of the balcony, leading her toward their suite’s personal, hidden hot springs.

Instantly, Tifa felt assaulted by the steep chills, her naked body prickled by the frigid night air. The sky was black with bands of white stars and the glowing disc of the moon in its center, all of the celestial light reflecting off of the endless blankets of snow in the expanse. In the far distance, Tifa could see the dance of green and lavender waves, the waltz of the Northern Lights against the horizon. Suddenly bone-chillingly cold, she crowded close to Cloud’s body, trying to absorb his warmth as she whimpered from the warring sensation against the hot passion inside of her body.

He navigated the slippery, jagged crags carefully as he carried her, soon coming upon the hot spring that was attached to their chalet. It was a small, uneven circular pool, no more than ten feet in diameter, but perfectly cozy for a couple. Without even minding his pants, Cloud found the steps that had been carved into the rock, wading and stepping up to his knees before he carefully lowered Tifa into the hot water. Plumes of steam climbed high into the sky, fighting against the frozen air, and the bright, heated sting of the water was a welcome sensation, easing away the chill. The water was so hot that in normal circumstances it might be slightly uncomfortable, but at present, it was everything she needed to warm her blood, and soon, she adapted to the heat.

Cloud stepped away just long enough to divest himself of his remaining clothing, Tifa watching him as he stripped against the fog and steam, unable to stop how much hotter and wetter she grew watching the perfect, pale lines of his body under the starlight as he moved, how the wind gently tore through his golden hair, the way that his cock was long and thick and standing tall when he finally kicked his pants away. His cheeks were bright from the cold, and the entire sight of him had her swooning, far dizzier than the steam was making her.

He climbed in without hesitation, and as soon as he was in the spring, he was advancing on her. Tifa didn’t dare move or try to evade; she had been desperate for him all night and she was ready for whatever he wanted to give or take from her.

Cloud forced her against one wall of the spring, wrapping an arm around her lower back while the other lifted so that his hand could find the wet, messy tangle of her hair around her head. He was kissing her instantly, his tongue messy and passionate, his mouth demanding as his body signaled its intentions with its press against hers. She lowered her bound arms around his neck, then widened her thighs beneath the water, her legs beginning to lift and float until she wrapped them tight around his waist. The movement brought his cock firmly in contact with her center, and as soon as she felt his stiff thickness against her slick softness, she moaned into his kiss and began to grind against him.

Cloud groaned in response to her sounds, eventually tearing his lips away from hers so that he could trail his kisses lower, onto other, more sensitive and despairing parts of her body. She sighed and gasped as he found her throat, sucking hard into her flesh there with every intention to leave marks, nipping with his tongue before kissing and licking away the hot pain he left there. With her wrists bound, it was impossible for her to reciprocate his touch; she couldn’t even drop her fingers into his hair and tug. All she could do was flail her hands back and forth, her fingers furling, her hips rocking until she felt her clit rub against his shaft, the swish of the heated water heightening the sensations between their bodies.

She threw her head back as she felt the first bright eruptions of ecstasy hit her nerves, so long overdue that they were almost painful, her clit a sore little button that was seeking any sort of relief from nearly ten hours of ups and downs. But Cloud was cutting her off again, causing Tifa to whine as he backed away, lowering himself in the water to trail more kisses over her collarbone and then her chest, sucking and nipping when he discovered the firm peaks of her breasts. Trading one form of pleasure for another and trying to ignore the way her clit grew stiffer and hungrier, Tifa arched her back to encourage him, thrusting her breasts forward as her mouth finally fell open.

“Please, Cloud…” she begged, desperate now for any sort of relief. “Please don’t tease me anymore.”

She didn’t realize how broken the plea was, hadn’t meant it to sound so hopeless until she heard her own voice drift beyond her lips. Cloud looked up at her with blue eyes glowing, and he nodded, dropping his lips to one nipple.

She let herself bask in the pleasure that coated her then, but she gasped when she realized that Cloud’s hands were beginning their own new explorations. One had risen to fall flat against her chest, right above her heartbeat, feeling it slam against her sternum as he dragged his teeth across her nipple and then sucked the stiff nub with a roll of his tongue. She squeezed her eyes shut, choking out a moan, and he lifted that hand higher, wrapping it around her throat and applying pressure the way he had in the bedroom earlier, a cloudburst opening up in her vision.

Throughout all of this, his free hand had slid between her thighs, and her brain realized with a delayed reaction that he was gently massaging her clit underwater, sending immediate, shooting sensations of blistering pleasure in a collision up her nerves to her brain. She keened and then gasped, breathless as he gripped her throat, his teeth biting into the fleshiest part of her breast before he abandoned it and attacked the opposite one with the same focus and attention.

Tifa let out a cry, but her breath was stifled as she realized that Cloud was keeping her still hovering on the edge. She began to beg and sob, his name falling from her lips in messy gasps as she tried to concentrate on the orgasm that was building but hovering too far away. She looked down to see the impish glow in his eyes, knowing that he knew exactly what he was doing, and she struggled against him with all of the strength in her body until they were pushing back and forth against one another as if they were in battle.

Cloud pulled fully away from her after a moment more of that back and forth, leaving her breathing heavily against the side of the spring, the rock digging into her back and her breasts already blooming with bruises from his teeth. She stared him right in his eyes, filtered by her tears, and she narrowed them, feeling her anger build.

“You promised,” she accused, her chest rising and falling as if it were firing semiautomatic rounds.

At that, she saw Cloud’s expression soften, saw the wildness subside, if just a little. He nodded, leaning forward and pressing a worshipful kiss to the center of her belly, right above where the line of water splashed and hovered.

“I’m sorry, Teef,” he whispered, his breath escaping in hot white puffs against the cold night air, blending with the steam that surrounded them. “Turn around, baby.”

Resisting the urge to protest or question, Tifa slowly turned around to face the rim of the spring so that she was able to see the bright white view of the continent beyond and the distant jade-green lights of the northernmost point of the continent. She rested her tied wrists on the surface of the hot spring, finding a comfortable position to stand before she realized that Cloud was lifting her by the hips and pushing her further forward until her entire upper body was on the lip of the spring, her ass hovering over the edge with her legs still in the water.

“Cloud?” she finally did question, feeling the cool air now clinging to her wet skin wherever it was exposed.

“Just relax for me, Teef,” Cloud whispered, pressing a kiss to the tender flesh at the curve of her bottom, right where it met her thigh. “I’ll make sure you feel good.”

Tifa trembled, not from the cold but from the incredible, escalating anticipation. She could do nothing but let Cloud palm her thighs apart, her body now a battlefield where the bitter cold of the air clashed with the soothing heat of the water below. And Cloud’s hands, rough and holding her open, were an entirely different sensation, especially when he began to spank her with one palm, stinging her wet flesh and causing her to cry out, her voice carried away to nowhere by the wind.

Soon, though, he moved on, ruining her with a new sensation when he dropped his mouth to her pussy. Her clit had been hard and waiting for this for hours, and  _ yet _ still he teased her, running his tongue through her slit, finding her opening slick and tasting it, dipping inside of her and giving her a preview of what her innermost depths wanted so longingly from him. She begged and slammed her fist against the cold earth, the black rocks only inches from her vision and offering her no reprieve or solace as he continued to mercilessly lap at her folds, sucking her lower lips and spoiling them with affection while he left her clit throbbing.

“Cloud,  _ fuck _ ,” she finally swore with a shout. “I can’t take it anymore. Fucking  _ Fenrir _ . Please.”

She felt him chuckle against her skin, but that seemed to have been enough to satisfy him, because she felt his tongue gently begin to move forward. Still, somewhere in the back of her mind, Tifa resolved to kill him when they got back to Edge and she was no longer wearing this chain.

That thought was abruptly cut off when his tongue found her engorged button, and as soon as he made contact with a long, stiff lick, Tifa let out a wild cry, arching her back and spreading her legs to ensure he had the best access possible. He wrapped his arms around her thighs and pulled her closer to his face, burying himself in her, his attention fully focused on her clit. He sucked and lapped, alternating with taps and even gentle scrapes of his teeth, soon bludgeoning her button of nerves with the rough massage of the flat of his tongue. 

“Yes… oh, Cloud, yes, please… please don’t stop, Cloud. It’s so good.. I need it so bad…”

She went on and on like that, her words becoming further undecipherable and incoherent the longer that he kept his lips pressed to her. He began to kiss her clit then, alternating each peck with words of praise and affection that her brain could scarcely register, all of it tumbling around her in a thick haze of wavy, soul tingling pleasure, his mouth so loving and tender and sweet that she could melt for him forever and ever and ever.

She did melt then, just moments after he began and a new round of sucking with his lips firm and full around her entire tender nub, pulling the pleasure out of her as if it were a spool that needed to be unwound. She cried as her orgasm hit her, tears running down her face as she beat the slick onyx rocks with both fists, the colors of the world around her fading and blending into a kaleidoscopic canvas of magic. Her heart was a runaway train in her chest, and then Cloud began to pull her hair, stretching her upper body back as she screamed into the heavens, his mouth finishing her off until there was nothing left of her to give.

He pulled away from her when her climax had torn like a cyclone through her body, leaving her legs trembling and her belly as tight as a snake, coiled and ready to strike. She could no longer feel the extreme cold on her back and arms nor the balmy heat of the springs on her legs, all she could feel was the calming of the burst of pleasure that rode her nerves like a drag race on a highway, all of it given to her by a man she loved more than life itself, a man who she more than once had been ready to lay it all down for.

He was pulling her back into the water, but Tifa could barely think, and when he slid himself inside of her from behind, whispering his love into her ears, she was on another planet, feeling his deep thrusts, the tip of his hardness stroking the deep patch of nerves inside of her that sent her reeling through a new eclipse. The multiple successions of explosions, orgasms that quickly built on that first one, now accelerated by his steady, punishing pace and aided by the sensations of the water that surrounded them, blurred her thinking, and Tifa finally let go, letting him carry her far, far away until she could no longer feel anything but what her soul wanted to feel, complete and absolute pleasure and total connection with him.

She didn’t want to work so hard anymore. She didn’t care about the bar or running it or cooking or paying the bills on time or waking the kids up for school or shopping for school supplies or cooking dinner every night or checking homework or running to the grocer and butcher or cleaning or -

No.

At that moment, lasting as long as a sunrise truly might, all she needed was  _ her _ Cloud.

She wasn’t sure how many times she had come by the time he’d finally let go too and joined her, but she knew that she had stopped screaming because her throat was sore and she’d lost her voice. She gasped and hugged the rock, and she heard Cloud calling her name - Tifa vaguely remembering that  _ that _ was her name - and she closed her eyes, feeling herself begin to sink into the water, ready to drown in him or whatever else surrounded her.

Soon, though, she felt Cloud lift her out of the water, the cold air now enveloping her. He untied her wrists, and instantly she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding onto him tight. She kept her eyes closed as he carried her up the rocks and back into their room, and she sighed when she felt the warmth of their room cover her, hearing him gently slide the glass doors shut.

The next few moments could have been a dream for all Tifa knew, she was so worn out and spent. She was vaguely aware that Cloud laid her down, that he soon came over with a towel to dry her skin. She knew when he tucked her into bed, leaving her naked and content under the heavy sheets, sleep capturing her as she fell face-first into its warmth. And she was just barely lucid when sometime later, he slid in beside her, reaching behind her hair to unclasp her howling chain and slide it away from her neck.

“Tifa?”

His voice was so soft that it almost startled her. All weekend she hadn’t heard that tone. In fact, the last time she had heard his voice that timid and concerned had been years ago, somewhere green and sparkling among the vestiges of memories.

Her eyes instantly opened wide, and she looked up at him, now fully awake. His own were staring back at her, bright and blue, the green glow almost completely gone. He looked concerned, scared even, and he had brought one hand to her cheek, stroking her gently.

“Hmm?”

“Are you okay?”

Her heart began to clatter, and Tifa could see how worried he was for her well being, far beyond her physical security but the shelter of her heart, too. And it melted her until she was wrapping her arms around him, holding him tight.

“I’m better than okay,” she vowed. “You’re amazing, Cloud. Shiva, I love you so much. I don’t think I could ever live without you.”

He emitted a muted, strangled sound that Tifa wasn’t quite certain what it might be, but she couldn’t question it, because he was kissing her gently, whispering his love to her between his lips as he pecked, and his mouth was so gentle and balmy that she was soon falling asleep.

She was under his haze for a few hours into the night, until he later woke her gently, his lips on her skin and his hands digging into her flesh as he pressed himself between her thighs and deep inside of her again, rocking her to a new high and to sleep again, making love to her with her name dripping from his lips as if he were at the altar, begging Minerva to save his soul.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> follow me on twitter @nitezintodreamz for updates and more cloti love and trash


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